


Greatest American Heroine

by Lerris



Category: Naruto, The Greatest American Hero
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 22:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6169315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lerris/pseuds/Lerris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata received the gift of flight to be able to stand by the one she cares for.  This is her story.  One Shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Greatest American Heroine

Hinata was relieved to finally be out of the hospital. She had done her best to defend Konoha when Sand and Sound attacked, but had ended up needing to be saved by Ko after she had collapsed. Her injuries from the preliminaries had still not healed and in hindsight she regretted her foolish bravado. It made her unable to help more when it mattered. Thankfully the Godaime was a much better healer than the normal ones and she was now truly healed.

She began her journey home, when she was stopped by Shikimaru. He asked, “Are you fully healed?” 

“Yes.” 

“Good. The Uchiha has run off with the group that helped kill the Hokage, probably willingly. Collect your gear and meet at the north gate ASAP.” 

“Hai.”

-«heroine»-

The battle with Kidomaru was not going well. Hinata could feel the internal injuries and knew they were lethal. Thankfully this time her efforts were at least not useless. Kidomaru was in about the same state. She was barely able to maintain her Byakugan as she lunged for him, reaching the palm of her right hand out as she funneled her remaining chakra into it. She thought she touched his heart before falling, but she couldn’t be sure. 

-«heroine»-

She awoke groggy, wearing only a simple white robe that she most certainly hadn’t been wearing before. She was lying in what seemed like a metal box. _Was she buried alive?_ A panel at the end opened and the tray or whatever she was lying on slid out. She got up and looked around only to see a short brown skinned bipedal creature with big round eyes, a large head, and a skinny body and legs peer at her. It wore no clothes and seemed to have no observable gender. 

“Greetings,” said the little guy. 

“Ano. Um, what happened? Who are you?” 

“My name is Thor. I was doing a routine scan of your world when I noticed your battle. You killed your opponent and very nearly died yourself. I healed your injuries.” 

She stepped down and bowed to Thor. “Thank you for saving my life.” 

“There is no need. I do however have a question for you.” 

Hinata asked curiously, “A question?” 

“I find I must apologize. I read your memories into my computer. You see, I did not know the cause of your conflict, or whether it was appropriate to save your life.” 

Hinata looked worried. 

“You need not worry about those getting released. I have already deleted the copy. They told me that you are generally a good person. They also told me that you probably would not abuse power if it was given to you, and are likely even to help this world, if you can.” 

Hinata looked even more uncertain. 

“You believe that you are weak. That is clearly incorrect. Most sentient beings I have encountered are weaker than you, so you are hardly weak. For that matter, I am weaker than you, though in my case it is partially by choice.” 

Hinata smiled a sad smile but said nothing. He continued, “I once gave special abilities to someone far weaker than you. He was a teacher. He helped save his world several times, though in the end, he, his wife, and their friend still died. Would you accept such abilities?” 

“Ano. I’m not sure I am the best choice. Maybe Naruto-kun or Shino-san or Kurenai-sensei.” 

“The one you know as Naruto-kun contains a malevolent entity. You know this. You know it is not his fault as do I, but I will not give him more power. He has enough. Kurenai and Shino are possibilities, but I believe you are the better choice.” 

“What would happen?” 

“Previously, I imbued a set of clothing so that when it was worn he could fly, run quickly, see important visions and such. I could do that again.” 

“Ano. I don’t think that would work. Father would quickly see it and ask about it. They would find out and take it away, or use it for themselves.” 

“The outfit would not work for others.” 

She pressed her fingers together in a gesture of nervousness. “I don’t think it would be enough, or if it was, they may just brand me with the caged bird seal and force me to do their bidding.” 

“You are likely correct. Hmm, I won’t be around this planet long. What if I directly gave you the ability of flight, increased damage resistance and faster healing? Would that be enough to make a difference? I know enough about how these ninja seals work that I could make them not work on you as well. That wouldn’t stop them from simply killing you of course.” 

“Could you make it safe for me to be around Naruto-kun? I know that the Kyuubi’s chakra is supposed to be toxic. I’d rather be safe from that.” 

“Difficult, but I might be able to manage that too.” 

Hinata smiled. “Ano. What did the old set of clothing look like?” 

Thor blinked. He moved a few controls and an image of a brilliant orange suit, complete with black cape, metal belt, and and what looked a bit like a big Chinese character for center on the front. 

Hinata said almost inaudibly, “I wonder if Naruto-kun would like me in that.” 

“You want the suit and its full set of powers too?” Thor asked. 

Hinata blushed. “Ano, um. Naruto-kun likes orange.” 

Thor blinked, not understanding. He said, “Okay. I’ll make an ordinary copy. The only special abilities it will have is adapting to your size, repairing, and cleaning itself. Will that do?” 

Hinata nodded happily. She was even happier when she realized that it also included chest supports. 

-«heroine»-

It was two weeks from the time Hinata was pronounced MIA to when she showed up at the gates in a copy of her original outfit. The alien had gone one step further and gave her the ability to change into the orange costume at will, and even made it difficult to tell who exactly she was while wearing it. 

The costume itself didn’t actually protect her. The changes made to her body did make her more resilient, if not exceptionally so. What the costume did do was allow her to stop being Hinata from time to time. If she avoided letting anyone see her fly when not wearing it she could likely pass off the other changes as nothing particularly special, particularly if she learned some medical jutsu to explain her faster healing. 

She was altogether grateful. Not only had the little guy saved her life, but he had also given her a chance to stand at Naruto-kun’s side, though most of the work would still be her own. She still thought Naruto-kun would love the outfit, even if she could hardly believe she would be the one wearing it! 

-«heroine»-

Sadly, she was still two weeks late. She supposed that it took the alien some time to fix her and perhaps more to decide what to do with her. The gate gaurds were surprised to see her, but after the formalities were seen to, she was taken directly to the Hokage. She figured she had no choice but to just tell the truth. Shizune was also present. 

“Ano. Would it be possible to speak to you alone or with only Shizune-san?” She glanced around the corners, where even without her Byakugan on she could tell there were hidden people. That was another odd change, her eyes seemed to see more clearly, even when they were not active. Thor hadn’t mentioned that, but she could hardly complain. 

Tsunade shrugged. “ANBU dismissed.” 

A few seconds later Hinata activated her eyes briefly and nodded. Tsunade appeared curious. She activated the soundproofing seals. 

Hinata went on to explain everything in as much detail as she could remember. 

Tsunade said, “Do you really expect us to believe all that?” 

“Ano. No. Not really. I figured you would call for Yamanaka-san.” 

“I’m still inclined to do so. Okay, you say you can fly, heal faster, and are more resistant to damage. Your not going to fly in here much, but can you hover?” 

Hinata willed herself to float several feet in the air. 

Tsunade blinked. Shizune said, “I wish I could do that.” 

Tsunade said, “Fine. Get back down here.” Hinata did. 

Tsunade said, “Hold out your arm. I’m going to cut it shallowly with a chakra scalpel. I will measure your resistance to the cut and we observe your healing time. Understood?” 

Hinata nodded. She was stoic as a long thin line of blood welled up from her left forearm. Ten minutes later the cut was gone. It had stopped bleeding close to ten seconds after it opened. 

Shizune said, “Well, her story checks out. What about her injuries from the fight, or her previous injuries. You healed those. There should still be traces, and they should be your traces.” 

“True,” Tsunade mused. “Okay, strip.” Hinata looked uncomfortable, but began doing so. 

Tsunade said, “Relax. If all this checks out, I may decide to not have Inoichi run through your head. Believe me when I say you would not enjoy it.” 

Shizune began the examination with her mentor’s help. They seemed to go over every centimeter of her body twice with green glowing chakra. Hinata was now very worried. The expressions on their faces were deeply surprised and concerned. 

Tsunade said, “Shizune, please go quietly see if you can get Inoichi.” 

Shizune nodded. Hinata now looked terrified. 

Tsunade waited till the door closed to speak. She said, “Your body has no traces of any injury or imperfection ever occurring to it. I could not do that with my best skills.” 

“What does that mean?” asked a worried Hinata. 

“I don’t know. It is possible you are some form of clone, but if my old teammate could do such perfection, I should think he would put it to better use, and not have just asked me to regrow his arms. I also have no idea who else would have the skill if not him.” 

Hinata hesitated, then asked quietly,“You don’t believe Thor did this too?” 

“You have given me no reason to disbelieve it. Your body, on the other hand, has. Perhaps I just mistrust when I see medical technology so far beyond what I can do used.” 

Hinata said, “I understand.” 

“Hey, don’t be so down. Yes, a mind scan is unpleasant, but it won’t cause any real harm and Inoichi will keep most of what he sees to himself. His only purpose is to validate that you are not a sleeper agent or some other threat to Konoha.” 

“But what if I am?” was said almost too quietly. 

“I can see how you might doubt even yourself. You can’t know exactly what happened to you. Don’t worry we will sort it out. Why don’t you put on that costume thing you described?” 

With a thought Hinata’s lack of clothing was replaced with an orange, skin tight suit. Tsunade laughed. The suit faded back to nothing. Tsunade tossed her clothing to her and said, “Yes, I do think Naruto will like it, but I would keep it a secret from everyone, including him for now. Hmm, maybe we can give you something you can slip on over it when you need to fly. Maybe with less of the kill me now orange?” 

Hinata blushed as she slipped her pants back on. After she finished with her coat she asked, “Ano. I thought you weren’t supposed to know it was me when it was worn.” 

Tsunade shrugged. “Maybe it would help if you didn’t tell me about it and change in front of me? I don’t know.” 

Inoichi soon arrived, followed by Shizune. After the door was closed he asked, “You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?” 

“Yes. You are to do a full mind scan on Hinata here. First verify she is who she appears to me, then focus on everything from her last mission till now. I warn you, she has quiet a fascinating story.” 

“And does she fully consent? A full scan of someone who does not may be dangerous, particularly to them.” 

Hinata said, “I do consent.” 

He nodded. “Lay down on that couch.” She did. He sat down in a chair next to it, then formed several hand signs before slumping over in his chair. 

Twenty minutes later he returned to his body. Shizune held out a cup of coffee, to which he eagerly drank. Hinata remained asleep. 

Tsunade said, “When I sensed you were about to wake, I used a jutsu to keep Hinata asleep. Report.” 

Inoichi did, reporting almost word for word what Hinata said. He ended with, “She is fragile. For all of her strength, she does not see it. Her father has much to answer for, as does her family. I highly recommend getting her away from her family in some manner. Some one on one instruction from a competent taijutsu specialist would not go amiss either. It would be a shame to let her potential go to waste. Perhaps Anko could be a roll model?” 

Shizune gasped. “Her?” 

“Well, Gai might work as well, but then his Youth, might totally cause anyone sane to melt down. Anko, despite her act, is more than capable of the necessary tact. Hinata could do far worse than to gain some of her aggression.” 

Tsunade asked, “Is Kurenai really doing that bad a job?” 

“No, but taijutsu isn’t her speciality, and she cares too much for Hinata. She thinks of her as a little sister or perhaps a mother from what I’ve seen. In order for Hinata to grow she will need support, but she will also need to be pushed, but in the right way. Her family has done it in the exact wrong way.” 

Tsunade nodded. “Is their anything else?” 

“There was one other thing I noticed. A few times Hinata would seem to loose focus and then it was all I could do not to be forcibly ejected. As soon as she noticed what was happening she immediately focused again and it stopped. I’m not sure if this is a new thing as well, but I doubt I’d have been able to get that scan if she had not cooperated. Her mind’s defenses appeared ready willing and able to throw me out.” 

“Interesting. You are fully unharmed?” 

“Yes, I am fine. To be honest, it was nice to go through a mind that does not make me want to throw up.” 

Tsunade opened a drawer and pulled out several small cloth bags before finding the one she wanted. She tossed it to him. He slipped it inside a side pocket. “Consider this an off the books mission. No records will be kept. All details are to be considered S-rank. Discuss them with no one but us and only then behind a warded and secured room.” 

“I understand Hokage-sama.” 

After he left Shizune asked, “What will you do?” 

“I think I will take his advice, but perhaps add to it. Anko and Hinata can meet up with Jiraiya and Naruto, but not right away. She is a heavy enough hitter to help Jiraiya defend them, but Hinata’s skills need polish first. No, that is not right. Her skills aren’t that bad, but I saw the recordings of her match in the preliminaries. Anko needs to try to fix that foolishness first. She must value her own life a heck of a lot more, before I will put her next to someone she actually cares about.” 

Shizune nodded. “I know that Anko has some basic medical knowledge. We could send them on a remote training mission, and perhaps bundle up some training materials.” 

“Agreed. Hinata will need to alternate between physical and mental training, and she might as well take advantage of those eyes. Why that fool family doesn’t permit more to train as combat medics I’ll never understand. It suits them too well to not do it at least somewhat often. Well that and perhaps some kind of crossbow type training. Will you see that everything is prepared? Anko can do most of it. I’d assume a long term C rank mission is doable, particularly if I have my perverted teammate foot the bill.” 

“Will Jiraiya-sama agree to that? That is a great deal of money.” 

“His books make a fortune, and this is indirectly liable to help Naruto, so yes, he probably will. I’ll pay with my own money to get things going in the short term. I’d classify it as needed for village security, but then none of the other genin are getting this kind of one on one training, so someone has to pay. Jiraiya is technically already paying for a long term C-rank to be able to take Naruto with him. Its stupid, but that is how it works if we want to not give the council anything to bitch about.” 

“I’ll take care of it Tsunade-shisho.” 

-«heroine»-

Hinata sat in a small leaky boat in the middle of the ocean. She was less than certain that the Hokage’s secret map for navigating the whirlpools around Uzushiogakure was actually still valid, or if it ever was valid. They had already been nearly drowned on three separate occasions. One more, and she was going to simply try to fly them there and be done with it. Of course, if they did that, they would probably lose the boat, and they needed that. She leaned over the side losing a bit more of her lunch. 

“Cheer up gaki. Thanks to these tides, no one ever bothers with this place. Of course it has already been ransacked, so I doubt we find much, but you never know.” Unofficially, Tsunade had tasked her and Hinata with trying to recover anything that might be of value to Konoha. There likely wasn’t anything left, but with Hinata’s eyes, it was always possible something would be found. 

An hour later they were no closer to shore. The whirlpool they were near had caused them to come full circle. Anko solved the problem by unsealing a long rope and having Hinata fly and pull on the boat. It still took them almost another hour to reach the shore and by then Hinata was exhausted. 

“Well done gaki. With taxi service like that, we could go anywhere.” 

“You could have at least used the oars.” 

“Nah. The goal is to get you in shape, not me. Just think of it as extra training.” 

Hinata glared at her, but said nothing, even as Anko sealed their boat into a scroll and put it in her pack. “Come on. We need to find a place well inland to make camp. Chakra walk the whole way. Leave no footprints.” 

-«heroine»-

Hinata looked at her previous footprints. They were close enough to the water’s edge that the tide should erase them. Letting out a near inaudible sigh, she focused chakra to her feet and set off after her sensei who seemed to be heading for a tall tower in the distance. 

Ten minutes later they were close enough to see the tower properly, yet she was still not sure what it was. It had a lot of scaffolding and a large container on top what must be thirty feet above them. 

Anko said, “Fresh water is harder to come by on Uzushiogakure. The Uzumaki built that tower to store clean drinkable water. The Uzumaki’s regularly used a jutsu to clean the sea water of salts and minerals and store it up there.” Hinata’s eyes widened. 

“You didn’t know? Just what are they teaching you these days in the academy? Uzushiogakure is our greatest sin; our greatest failure. They were our closest allies. The first Hokage was married to Mito Uzumaki. They were fuinjutsu experts without peer. They were so feared that an alliance of Kumo, Iwa, and Mizu wiped them out to a man. We did not arrive in time to help.” 

Hinata looked across the rubble, for that was all there was, save for that one strangely untouched tower. “Naruto-kun’s home.” 

She said quietly, “Byakugan,” and continued her look around. After a few seconds she drifted up to the top of the tower and continued her slow inspection, only to be half surprised when Anko ninja jumped her way up alongside her. 

“See anything?” asked the elder kunochi. 

Hinata said nothing, she just continued to look, slowly turning to improve what she could see. A few minutes later she said, “I found an old cave system, mostly collapsed but there is still a large section intact. I don’t think there is a way in anymore, but it looks like it might contain supplies of some type.” 

“Can we get in?” 

“I can see where to dig, but it must be at least thirty feet down.” 

“You can see that deep? Is that normal for a Hyuga?” asked a shocked Anko. 

“No. Ten feet is about the max we can normally see through objects. This seems to be about my new limit.” 

“I’ve got a shovel sealed. I presume you don’t have your own?” Hinata nodded. “Then we can take turns. I’d really like to see what is down there.” 

Hinata led them to a spot several thousand feet north of the tower, and then carved a crude circle in the ground with her Kunai. Anko unsealed the shovel and tossed it to her. She began to dig, even as Anko walked towards the nearest set of tall trees. 

Less than an hour later she returned with an armload of firewood. Hinata already had the hole at least ten feet deep, though it was clearly getting more difficult as the earth above would shift and threaten to fill it in with her inside it. She set down the firewood and ran through hand signs before placing both hands on the ground. The surrounding soil immediately firmed. She asked, “Want to switch, or shall I make us something to eat?” 

“I’m fine for now.” 

“Works for me.” 

Anko swiftly prepared a fire and then unsealed a basic grill and some uncooked hamburgers from a scroll. A short time later they had food and Hinata was at least another five feet deeper. Seeing as her new apprentice seemed determined to continue, she quickly eat her own food before calling out, “Food’s done. I’ll take over. Eat and rest.” 

A weary Hinata began to float out when Anko said, “Stop relying on that. Your a ninja. Sure you need to practice with it, but you need to also be sure you don’t give that skill away easily.” 

Hinata wearily dropped back down and then used chakra coated hands and feet to climb out. She nearly collapsed when she finally got out. Anko shoved a bottle of water in her hand before jumping down the hole. 

She sized up the situation and decided against digging another fifteen feet. She stuck herself to the side of the wall with chakra before running through a similar set of hand seals to her last and then place her hands directly on the ground. 

All around her the floor of the hole seemed to melt away before her as it slid up the sides of the makeshift tunnel and out onto the open ground. Five minutes of this and it was done. She looked up to see Hinata peering over the edge while eating a hamburger. 

She dropped down, quickly followed by Hinata, who was still eating. Next she unsealed a pair of flashlights and tossed Hinata one. After they turned them on they saw stacks and stacks of heavy trunks lining the walls sometimes up to five high. 

“Jackpot,” muttered Anko. Hinata activated her eyes and began to inspect them more closely. “Sealing scrolls. I think they are all sealing scrolls.” 

“And no way to tell what is in them other to open them up and find out.” She walked to the closest one and removed the lock with a chakra scalpel, before flipping it open and picking up the first scroll. Clearly labeled on the edge of the scroll were the words Green Beams and a date nearly twenty years ago. 

She unrolled the scroll and applied chakra, only to recover a small barrel, which when opened contained what seemed to be fresh string beans. “Well we’ve got food. They must have prepared this to be able to withstand a siege. I just wonder if that is all that is down here.” 

Hinata was examining the other nearby chests. “I can read the labels without opening the chests. It is a bit tricky, since the ink for the label contains no chakra, but I can do it. So far, I see corn, rice, beets, oatmeal..” She went on to name a large variety of staples, but nothing of value. 

“Make camp down here. I’m going to remove our tracks and hide this entrance.” 

“Ano.” 

“I don’t have any reason to suspect anyone else is close, but the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced we just stumbled on a gold mine.” 

Hinata said softly, “I don’t understand.” 

Anko picked up the now empty storage scroll, unrolled it, and looked it over carefully. “Well, I’m no expert, but it looks legit to me. If these are all genuine high grade Uzumaki preservation scrolls then they are worth far more than the food inside them. You can’t get these anymore. I used one my bastard sensei gave me for years before it was destroyed in a fight.” 

“How will we bring them back to Konoha? You can’t seal a sealing scroll inside a scroll.” 

“Not our problem, at least not yet.” She took out a small scrap of paper and wrote on it, “Found thousands of these, each with food. Please advise.” She then wrapped that paper around the wooden core before wrapping the scroll around that. She finished with a careful application of chakra which locked the scroll in place before summoning a mid sized snake and holding out the scroll. 

“Take this to the Hokage.” 

“I want ssomething tassty for thiss.” 

“I find something first thing tomorrow. Is that soon enough?” 

“Yesss.” 

-«heroine»-

The next morning, after finding and killing a pair of rabbits, she summoned her snake friend from the previous night. He dropped another scroll at her feet and swallowed the first rabbit whole. 

Anko read out loud. “I’ve contacted Jiraiya. They will make their way to your present location in about one month’s time. He will be in charge of getting them back to Konoha. He also wants Hinata to look for any more information about Uzumaki seals. If you find anything in the meantime he advises that you note its location and leave it alone. Booby trapped seal arrays were common among the Uzumaki. Remain unnoticed until he arrives, or if that is impossible, your secondary goal is to attempt to divert people away from what you found without loss of life.” 

“Naruto-kun is coming here.” 

“Yep, and we had better make sure your in top form when he arrives, that is if you want to impress him.” 

“Hai,” she said blushing. 

“Time to spar. No chakra, not even to enhance your movements. I’ll react as if you are using chakra. Now, begin.” 

Anko was a merciless fighter. Where other teachers might let a student get a few hits in, she didn’t allow even one. She continually stayed just out of reach of the frustrated genin, while periodically exploiting holes in Hinata’s attacks to land solid blows. “Don’t you dare give up. Yes, my reach is better, as is my skill. This is not the preliminaries. No one is trying to kill you.” 

Hinata’s movements gained more focus, as she subtly sped up, but this appeared to be slightly at the cost of precision as Anko landed another hit to her side. “You are not used to fighting without those eyes activated. That must be fixed. You are also not used to someone without a rigid style. That too will be fixed.” She said the last with no doubt in her voice whatsoever. 

Hinata continued to try her best, but her efforts seemed to be devolving if anything. “Now use chakra only for speed. Don’t worry about follow through, simply move faster.” 

Hinata looked a bit like a walking bruise as she sped up and began to get effective hits in on Anko. “No, I am not letting you hit me. I am simply not enhancing my movements. I want to get something out of this as well.” This continued for another half an hour before Anko called a halt and threw Hinata a water bottle. 

“Tell me Hinata, what do you think is wrong with your Taijutsu?” 

“Ano, I’ve never been very good at my families..” 

Anko laughed. “Incorrect. Your skill is not the problem, though you are right I suppose, you have problems applying that style. Hell, I’d have problems applying that style. It is a rigid hard style. Yes, I know technically the hits are soft, but it caters to the average adult male Hyuga’s body type. I’d bet money that almost the entire lot of them have a chakra affinity for Earth, just as I’d bet you do not. Actually, let’s just find out.” 

Hinata looked on concerned as Anko dug into her pack and pulled out a scroll way at the bottom, only to unseal a small pack of square papers and then hand Hinata one. “Channel a trickle of chakra in that.” 

Hinata did hesitantly, only for the paper to instantly become soaked and then flash a soft green as she released it. 

“Well water for sure, and a strong water at that, and something else. Tell me, have you ever been taught to produce medical chakra?” 

“No sensei. Kurenai-sensei has mentioned it as something I might consider learning after I became chunin, but I have not had any training.” 

“A pity, since if I’m right, you have what appears to be an affinity for it, and that is downright unheard of. Medical chakra is a form of yin and yang manipulation. Here, let me show you.” With that she focused and a gentle soft green glow enveloped the palm of her hand which she held out to Hinata. “Feel it. I know you have probably been healed many times before, but I want you to focus on what exactly this feels like. 

Hinata hesitantly brought her palm above Anko’s, not quite touching, but easily within reach of that green aura of energy. “It feels calm, controlled, curious?” The last was said in confusion. She continued, “Dense, yet yielding.” 

“Good, now take that feeling and use it to shape your own chakra. Don’t worry if you don’t get it the first time. It takes some people months to get this. I know it took me over a month of practice.” 

Hinata pulled back her hand and turned it over as she willed that chakra to gather in it. Only a soft blue glow resulted. 

“Use your eyes. Watch how I form it, then try again.” Hinata did so only for her already wide eyes to open more as understanding begin to creep in. She turned her focus back to her hand. The blue formed again, only to be replaced by flashes of not the soft green, but a harder bluish green. She kept this up for another hour and a half, interspersed with watching how Anko did it. At the end her blue green was more green than blue and she was beginning to visibly have trouble staying awake. 

“It really is a pity that you had the misfortune to be born into a clan of idiots. Hell, once I tell Tsunade this, she is liable to want you back in Konoha where she can train you personally, and the heck with her grand plan.” 

“Ano.” 

“You have no idea what you did do you? Didn’t you listen to me? It took me nearly three weeks to get as far as you did. Sure you didn’t master it in one evening, but I’m not entirely sure you couldn’t have done so had you been rested. 

“I need to be strong enough to help Naruto-kun.” 

“Well, unless I hear otherwise, I’ve got you for a year and then Jiraiya will take over, though I’ll be there too, so it might actually end up still being me. I highly suspect Tsunade will insist you take some medical ninja training at some point, and I can at least start you on that, but I’m concerned that Jiraiya is simply the wrong teacher for you and that I won’t be enough.” 

“Why is that?” 

“His style is about controlled power. It is Earth based, and likely would favor a Hyuga like your cousin, at least if he had the chakra reserves for it. If you get that far, he might be able to eventually help you with sage jutsu. I certainly have no plans to risk that path with the snakes. As for me, well, I’m certainly not S-rank, nor does it looks like I’m going to get there anytime soon.” 

“Sage jutsu?” 

“Sage jutsu deals with the use of natural energy to enhance, well pretty much everything. It is incredibly difficult to learn, since if you mess up you die. You need exceptional chakra reserves as well, since it is far too easy to be turned to stone and die with small reserves.” 

Hinata looked at her with incredulity. 

“Yes, right now it would be stupid for you to even attempt it, and I doubt a year or two from now is enough to change that. You need to first get to full jounin strength, and perhaps build your chakra as much as you dare. Then, and only then, you might try it, hence why I’m not sure Jiraiya’s training is where you should be heading towards. It doesn’t matter really. We can sort it out later.” 

“But I want to help Naruto-kun.” 

“Naruto is likely to face S-rank enemies that will step on anything less than a full Jounin like an ant. That is why he is with Jiraiya. My help may not be enough. That is why I’m trying to suggest ways for you to get stronger. You don’t necessarily have to learn to be a full medic ninja, although not exploiting that affinity for at least battlefield healing would be a complete and utter waste, and if there is any path available for you to be S-rank, it would be Tsunade’s path. If you can achieve that, then you might be able to help Naruto. Until then, you would probably be a liability in an S-rank fight.” 

“What is so important that I must learn from the Hokage?” 

Anko sighed. “You are going to be stubborn eh? I’ll tell you what, if you can figure out one thing with only what help I can give you, then you can ask Jiraiya to make the final decision.” 

“What is that?” 

“Follow me.” They used chakra to climb and jump out of the cave and then dashed to a spot a thousand or so feet away. 

“Eyes on and focus on me, in particular my right arm, hand, and knuckles. I’m going to attempt a low powered Tsunade style chakra enhanced punch, but I’m only going to try once, so watch closely.” 

Anko focused and rammed her hand into ground. A small crater formed, nearly three feet in diameter before Anko yelled. “Damn, still can’t do it right.” She then focused healing chakra into her left hand as she gently tended to her right. 

Hinata kept her eyes activated and made the motions to try to duplicate it. Before Anko could stop her she repeated it only to hear bones breaking. Hinata’s face took on an expression of extreme pain, but she said nothing. “Foolish gaki. Come over here, and I’ll try to heal it.” She made a crater nearly a foot wide. 

Anko noted that even while she was trying to heal her she was totally focused on learning. Interesting. She said, “You begin to see the difficulty? That is just one of Tsunade’s skills, though it is the most famous. If you could learn that, on top of your other skills you might achieve S-rank status.” 

“I understand.” Then a few seconds later she said absently, “Do you know what your seal is doing to you?” 

“What?” 

“It is destabilizing your chakra. That is why you failed. I could see it do it. I could see how it interacts with your chakra. Absorbing it and somehow making it darker, more dense before returning it. If I strain a bit, I can even see what is going on inside the seal. I don’t understand it though.” 

Anko pleaded, “Please, if you can write down or draw what you see so Jiraiya can look at it, I’ll give you my share of the profits from this mission.” 

“I don’t care about money. Just help me grow strong. Perhaps I can’t help Naruto as soon as I had hoped, but even one day sooner...” 

“You’ve got a deal kid.” 

“This is complicated. It may take me days to draw it all. It is hard to explain. When I focus on the seal enough to see inside of it, I can’t easily see enough outside of it to draw what I see, so I’ll have to take turns looking then drawing from memory.” 

“Is this kind of thing normal for a Hyuga?” 

“No, I’ve never heard anyone being able to see inside a seal. If we could, the branch family members might have removed their seals, or at least tried to.” 

“Well, kiddo, despite what your idiot father tells you, you certainly have potential. That punch wasn’t bad for a first try either. Incredibly foolish, but not bad. We need to first kick your chakra control up to the max before you even attempt it again though, got it?” 

Hinata nodded. 

Anko finished healing her, and then with an Earth jutsu repaired the damage before they returned to their camp in the cave for the night. 

-«heroine»-

Jiraiya was due anytime. Anko thought back to the past month. Hinata had excelled. Sure, some of that was likely due to her alien friend tinkering a bit more than he said he did, but much of it was simply teaching her, or even simply building up her confidence. It was a mistake to assign her to Kurenai’s team. She meant well, but she was not a taijutsu master and she was certainly not objective when it came to Hinata. 

She likely assumed that the training she got at home was best and didn’t dare try to suggest otherwise. Of course, if she had, then her father would have been pissed, and her home life would have been worse. What a mess. Hinata was as suited for classic Jyuken as well, she herself was, which was not at all. Now, give her something like her own variant on the Hebi style and she flourished, while easily incorporating chakra strikes into it. 

She gingerly picked up the rather thick stack of drawings that Hinata had made of her cursed seal. She may not understand what she is drawing, but she did an excellent job covering every detail of it. 

“Anko-chan.” She spun, only to be caught by surprise by the old letcher himself. 

“Jiraiya-dono.” 

“What have you got there?” he asked curiously. 

She looked around for Naruto, but evidently he was still top side. Perhaps he would run into Hinata? “Hinata made these. Since her little adventure, she can apparently see inside seals, though it is a bit tiring for her. These are the results of a month of work by her, spending an average of two hours a day with her eyes active studying my seal. 

She held them out to him gently. He sat down and began to carefully flip through them before saying quietly, “Make sure she keeps this ability secret. If people find out she can do this she will be hunted. Consider it S-rank if you want. In fact, go find her and make sure she doesn’t blab to Naruto. I’ll look at this.” 

Anko nodded and slipped out of the underground cave, only to find Naruto and Hinata sparring. She slipped up into a tree and sat to quietly watch and listen. 

“Hey Hinata-chan, you’ve gotten really good.” He said this as Hinata wiped out what must be his hundredth clone. 

Hinata blushed. “Not as good as you Naruto-kun.” 

“Dunno. It seems most of the time I just sit around and try to train while I wait for Jiraiya to come back from wherever he went.” 

“You could train with us while your here. I’m sure Sensei wouldn’t mind giving you a lesson, would you Sensei?” 

Anko jumped down. “Those eyes really are unfair you know that?” 

Hinata blushed furiously and smiled a small smile.. 

“Sure gaki, I’ll give it a shot. First thing first, you have to learn a cohesive fighting style. Do you have one in mind?”; 

“Nah. Jiraiya has been teaching me a few things, but nothing like that.” 

“Fine, make a hundred shadow clones and divide then into ten groups. I’ll teach each one an introductory kata. Hinata will help me watch them to look for errors.” 

Before long Anko and several of her clones were guiding the different groups through the first ten sets for the Hebi style, while Hinata was doing her best to answer questions and keep the Naruto’s from getting distracted by what the others were doing. It was a surprisingly difficult task. 

-«heroine»-

Jiraiya moved to be under where the light came down into the cave system as he studied Hinata’s notes. He already had some ideas. The problem was, he could not see what was on these papers if he looked at the seal. It would be a bit like trying to fix a watch with a hammer and chisel while looking at the diagram of the watch, but never the watch itself. One wrong move, and Anko would never see the time of day again. Worse, any action against the seal was likely to change the configuration to some extent. Sure, these notes were almost priceless if you wanted to understand that seal. He just wasn’t sure what he could do with the information yet. Perhaps Tsunade had some ideas? 

He sighed before carefully sealing the precious notes in a fresh sealing scroll and storing them in his pack. He then went in search of the trio, only to find Anko doing a more credible job than he had of teaching Naruto. _Damn. We really need to promote her._ He looked over at Hinata only to see her doing her best to help. _No, that is not what I need her to be doing. Anko has it handled well enough without her help._ He called out, “Hey gakette, come over here?” They all looked over at him. “I’m going to start training Hinata in sealing. I want you Naruto to work really hard to learn what Anko can teach, got it?” 

“Sure, Ero-Sennin.” 

Hinata walked over, curiousity written on her face. “Follow me,” he said. They returned to the cave system, but remained in the area which had light from the opening. 

“First, don’t tell anyone, not even Naruto about how you can see into seals. I’ll tell the Hokage. Consider it S-ranked. Your diagrams are potentially very useful. Almost any village would try to kidnap you and use you for their benefit. Some may try to force you to bear children to pass the skill on.” 

Hinata paled. 

“Yes, just imagine what a sealmaster can do with your particular trick. The defenses that help safeguard Konoha could be taken apart at leisure, and that says nothing for all the other uses.” 

“I understand,” she said softly. 

“Now your job for the time I am here is to learn as much as you can as quick as you can about sealing. You’ll still have to train some to stay in shape, and because you only have so much chakra to practice with, but I expect you will work hard on this. If you want any more incentive, I suspect you know someone else who might need the help one day.” 

“Naruto-kun’s seal that holds..” 

“Yes, I thought the Hyuga probably had to know. It must be quite obvious to them.” 

Hinata said, “I was told since I had a class directly with Naruto-kun. I don’t think anyone else was, though you are correct in that we can easily see the second chakra source.” 

Jiraiya began by unsealing an introductory sealing book. “This first scroll is good. Go through it. Learn it. Perfect it. At the end you may practice creating a standard sealing scroll. Do not attempt to activate it until I’m here okay?” 

“Hai.” 

He was about to leave when Hinata’s bravery reasserted itself. She asked, “Ano. Wouldn’t it make sense to have Naruto-kun send a clone or two to learn this as well?” 

“Or two?” smirked the Sannin. Hinata blushed furiously. He said, “I’ll see what I can do, but remember he doesn’t need to know you have any special abilities a normal Hyuga would not have.” 

“Hai.” 

-«heroine»-

A month later Anko stood to look over the massive seal array the other three had created. Sure it was mostly the Sannin’s work, but she was surprised at how far Naruto and Hinata had come as well. It was a transport seal, powered by all of them, though mostly Naruto. He really did have reserves that were ridiculous. Uzumaki plus Kyuubi was a very effective combination in that area. 

They would be taking the transport seal back to Konoha shortly. They were limited to one at a time, and even then, it would likely drop them about two thirds of the way, but it was enough for now. Once they were back in Konoha they could build its mate and have two way travel, and thus ship the Uzumaki supplies without anyone knowing, not to mention having access to a bolt hole, should one be needed. Orochimaru’s invasion was a potent reminder of the need for a plan B. 

Hinata could now make all the standard seals you could find in Konoha, and what is better she could manipulate them on the fly. She could disarm an active explosive tag with what looked like a simple Jyuken strike. She could also sometimes activate a tag, even one that wasn’t visible, such as one around a Kunai in a pouch just by brushing the outside of the pouch. Those were skills that that could decide battles, particularly if she could keep them secret. Naruto didn’t know about that part of her skill of course. Hinata had not liked keeping that secret, but she had done it. 

Naruto himself could make the same seals, plus he had this odd talent for improvising seals that still worked, and often worked better. Jiraiya had tried to discourage his creativity, at least till he learned more. Experimenting with seals was dangerous. Sadly, Naruto persisted with his experimentation though Jiraiya did at least get him to agree to experiment with shadow clones. More importantly, he also now finally had chunin level Taijutsu in the Hebi form, which was pretty good for a month. That alone was proof that the Shadow Clone jutsu was almost as ridiculous when used by him as those dang Uchiha eyes. Sure, maybe it didn’t make him physically stronger or faster, but he wasn’t in bad shape to start with. 

-«heroine»-

Hinata had the pleasure of going first. The world blinked and she found herself in the air, but not just in the air, but incredibly high in the air and falling towards Konoha. With a thought she stopped falling and looked around. Crap, there was Naruto. She dashed to him and grabbed onto him. 

“Hinata!” he screamed. 

“Hold on!” 

Crap, there was Anko. She flew over to Anko and managed to get her to grab on. She was now having a hard time staying level. Thankfully Anko said nothing. 

And of course there was Jiraiya. She flew down to him. The two she was holding were really slowing her down, but she just managed to get to him. Anko and Naruto caught him even as she moved directly away from Konoha. She could no longer maintain altitude. They were falling again, if slowly. 

Anko asked, “Can you make it to the lake?” 

“I don’t know. I’ll try.” They were still several thousand feet in the air and the lake was at least that far away. 

Jiraiya said, “Tell me if you need me to let go. I stand the best chance of surviving a fall.” 

“I am okay.” The strain in her voice indicated she was anything but, as did their vertical velocity. About a thousand feet of height remained and probably fifteen hundred feet horizontally. 

Jiraiya said, “Anko, Naruto, hang on to me.” They did so. He freed his hands enough to make a single shadow clone that he quickly tossed in the direction opposite to the way they were going. Their horizontal velocity increased by perhaps a third. 

Five hundred feet, and falling quite quickly, and close to a thousand horizontally. He repeated the trick three more times with shadow clones. They passed the lake edge. Ten feet. Twenty Feet. Thirty Feet. They hit the lake hard and plunged into its depths, but were stopped short. That part of the lake was only about twenty feet from the surface. They hit hard and were stuck in several feet of mud. Jiraiya and Anko quickly freed themselves with their chakra. Hinata was out cold and breathing in water. Anko pulled her out and launched herself to the surface, even as Jiraiya grabbed Naruto who was in a similar state. They swam to the surface. As they broke the surface, Jiraiya let out a massive pulse of chakra. 

-«heroine»-

“What the hell?” Tsunade said. 

Shizune was with her in her office. She said, “That is Jiraiya-sama.” 

“Right. Let’s go!” 

Tsunade, Shizune, and the Anbu guarding them ran. They were at the gates within half a minute and well on their way. Two minutes later they found them completely soaked by the lake. Hinata and Naruto were non responsive. Anko and Jiraiya had tilted them to the side and were trying to ease the water from their lungs. 

Tsunade dashed to Naruto even as Shizune moved to Hinata. They both had glowing green hands as they used medical chakra to manipulate the water inside them and force it out of their bodies. 

Jiraiya and Anko watched as the clear fluid ran out of their mouths and noses. The medics then laid them on their backs and used chakra to stimulate their diaphrams to breathe, even as they used more chakra to stimulate their hearts. Less than a minute later they were breathing on their own. Tsunade used a Jutsu to keep Naruto unconscious that Shizune copied. 

“Report!” 

The Anbu looked on in concern. 

Jiraiya said, “It is not important. I’ll fill you in on the details later when we are secure.” 

“Fine.” 

Anko said, “If it is okay with you, I’ll take Hinata and check in normally after drying off. The less fuss we raise the better.” 

Tsunade said, “Agreed.” 

Jiraiya sighed. “We might as well do that same, if a bit later. I’ll talk to you this evening.” 

“So what am I supposed to say if the council asks where I was?” 

Jiraiya shrugged. “That is why you wear the big hat.” 

“Bastard.” 

-«heroine»-

Tsunade told the council that Jiraiya was experimenting with an alert seal that went off accidentally and there was no actual threat. Sure, not everyone bought it, but as explanations went, it worked as well as any. From the amount of mud on them, they must have hit the lake bottom hard, which implied they were quite high up when they were thrown out by the origin seal, and it was completely impossible to absorb the impact with chakra at the speed they were going. Curious. She supposed she could tell the Ninja council that bit of truth. No, they didn’t need to know. No need to imply Jiraiya was nearly killed nor any of the others. Would they have survived without Hinata slowing them down? Was Hinata able to slow them down? It wasn’t important right now. 

“There is one more piece of news to report, but this is for the ninja council only. The civilians will leave now.” There was complaining, but the Hokage’s glare and the glares of the ANBU got them out in short order. 

“Hinata Hyuga has returned from the first part of a mission I sent her and Anko on. They successfully journeyed to the former village of Uzushiogakure. There they found a cache of Uzumaki preservative scrolls hidden in a cave. The food sealed inside was the same as the day it had been sealed.” 

Hiashi said, “I was told that my daughter was presumed dead.” 

“That news turned out to be incorrect. She was injured badly in the fight. ANBU brought her in. I healed her. Since she was thought to be dead, I decided to use that. I sent her with Anko to secure the cave we had Intel on, and more importantly to actually find that cave.” 

“Why did you not tell me my daughter was alive?” 

She said cooly, “Your daughter is now the apprentice of a full Jounin. I have no legal obligation to inform anyone else as to her state.” 

A half dozen glares met her eyes, including Hiashi’s, but she did not blink. Finally he gave a small nod, not really conceding, but obviously not willing to challenge her authority, at least not over Hinata, though he still appeared to be thinking about it. 

Danzo said, “So you promoted Orochimaru’s pet.” 

“Watch your mouth Danzo. She is far more useful to me than you are.” 

“How is that? Sure the scrolls are useful, but you said they were just following intel so it is hard to give Anko too much credit there. I’m also curious where you got that intel. Our best information was that Uzushiogakure was picked dry.” 

“That intel is classified. Promotion to Jounin takes one of two paths. You qualify for the Jounin trials when you have two dozen successful A-ranked missions and have the other necessary skills. The other path is to have completed at least a dozen S-ranked missions successfully. In that case the Hokage may wave the requirement for the Jounin trials. Anko has completed eighteen. Her last requirement was to show demonstrated skills at teaching. In a little over a month of training, Hinata improved dramatically, thus completing that requirement. In my opinion it is long overdue.” 

Danzo said, “And can you trust someone with Orochimaru’s mark?” 

“Anko has proven trustworthy. As for the Uchiha, he was listed as a flight risk well before he graduated from the Academy. His leaving to join the murderer of the Third basically settled it. I’ll be glad to accept a vote to declare him nuke-nin right now.” 

Danzo said, “The Sharingan is not something we can easily replace.” 

“Fine. Delay all you want. I for one will be glad when that clan is completely dead.” 

Koharu asked, “What happened next?” 

“Let’s see, after that, Jiraiya joined them. He and his apprentice were required to setup the sealing arrays required to transport the chests back.” 

Homaru asked, “Was that really necessary? Surely we could have just send a team and get them and not waste Jiraiya’s time.” 

“There were thousands of them. When this end is complete we will have ready access to Uzushiogakure. I want that access. Of course, Naruto-kun technically owns everything on it, but no doubt he will agree to reasonable terms.” 

Danzo said, “What? You are giving the container the whole bloody island!” 

“I’m giving nothing. We failed in our duty to protect our allies. I will not take away without compensation all that he has left. He will either agree to let us use it, or he will not. The scrolls, however, are now Konoha’s, unless some have clan secrets, in which case they are Naruto’s. So far no seal master can replicate the quality of an Uzumaki preservation scroll, and I have no intention of seeing them go to waste. They will be issued to those with a genuine need. The rest will be saved. The food in there is still perfectly good and Konoha might need it one day.” 

Hiashi said, “I still find it hard to believe that my incompetent daughter improved so much.” 

“Then you will be in for a shock. She also learned the fundamentals of sealing in that time. Of course, if you don’t believe, I suppose we can arrange a demonstration.” 

Shikaku asked, “What did you have in mind?” 

“It will take them a couple weeks to establish the other end of the paired transport seals to allow us to collect what is stored in Uzushiogakure. How about in one month Hinata and Naruto fight the rest of the current crop of genin? We may, however, want to send Asuma’s team on a mission. I rather not risk Inochi’s daughter trying a mind transfer Jutsu on Naruto.” 

Inochi said, “I haven’t said why, but she has been warned not to do that.” 

“It is up to you. If you think it wise, she can be informed, though the third’s law stands.” 

“I will think on it.” 

Shibi asked, “Why not just wait for the next chunin exams?” 

“Naruto will be leaving to train with Jiraiya. I have decided to send Anko and Hinata along with him. In time, they will make a formidable team.” 

“Very well,” said Hiashi, “But if she fails, then she will be pulled from active duty and placed in the branch family.” 

“You have no such right,” uttered Tsunade in shock. 

“Read the charter. You will find I have every right.” 

Danzo said, “Ignoring Hyuga politics. While I agree that Anko might be of some small help if they face Akatsuki, surely you cannot expect a genin or even a new chunin to be helpful? I could recommend someone that would actually be helpful.” 

“Today you are correct, but her growth far exceeds my expectations. I will be spending what free time I have over the next month training her.” 

Koharu asked, “What about your current apprentice? I thought you were training Sakura.” 

“Sakura remains my apprentice. It is possible that Hinata will also become my apprentice at some point, but for now Anko and Jiraiya should be more than enough. I am simply taking advantage of the fact that she is here now.” 

Tsume asked, “Can you tell us anything else? What makes this Hinata worth your personal time?” 

Tsunade smiled. “Hinata Hyuga is one of those few that are blessed with two affinities. The first is somewhat uncommon in the land of fire. She has a strong water affinity. It is likely why the Earth based Gentle Fist is somewhat of a poor fit for her. Water is also a very good affinity for a medical ninja.” 

“And the second?” asked Shikaku. 

“I have yet to confirm it, but Jiraiya and Anko have already tested her and believe her second affinity is related to Yin and Yang release. Chakra paper flares green while being soaked. Having no previous training, she managed to produce medical grade chakra within about an hour under Anko’s tutelage. That combined with her eyes and her water affinity means she has the potential to exceed my own skills.” 

Shikaku stated, “An affinity for medical chakra. That would be valuable.” 

Danzo said, “I can see the value, but why put that value at risk by putting her with the container?” 

Tsunade glared at him. She was getting sick of that expression. Sure everyone here knew, but Naruto was more than that. She said, “She works best when it is for another. She will work harder to be..” 

Hiashi interrupted, “I know all about her little crush. I would not have though you to allow such nonsense.” 

“That is my choice as Hokage. With Naruto, Jiraiya, and Anko, she will have no choice but to excel, just to keep the others alive. Having a medic in training on the team will likely be invaluable. She will not grow nearly as much were I to keep her in the village on her old team. Like it or not, the sannin grew when we were forced to grow. War and adversity do that. Regular practice in the training fields is not remotely as effective.” 

“She is still my daughter. If she can live up to these boasts; if she can earn the rank of chunin fine. If not, I will deal with her.” 

Tsunade glared at him. 

“You think me the villain in this little show. This matters little to me. Tell me, how long do you think Jiraiya’s group will be gone?” 

“At least a couple years, though it is possible they will stop in the village from time to time.” 

“Very well. This I now say as clan head. If she shows that she is a solid chunin rank, she may go. I will expect a very serious weighting of her performance one month from now. Two years after that, if she returns alive, she will fight me. If she can defeat me she will be the clan head. If I survive, I will serve the clan as she wills. If she fails, I will kill her.” 

Tsume said, “Aren’t you being a bit ridiculous Hiashi-kun?” 

“No. The leader of the Hyuga must be strong in all ways. The Byakugan must be protected. If she does not desire that path, then she can be sealed. At this time she will probably survive it. Two years from now the attempt would likely be fatal.” 

“This meeting is over.” Tsunade said. “Everyone remember that what you learned here today is sealed. If anyone leaks what is discussed in the ninja council they will face Ibiki, after which, well I have never really asked what comes after that. He assures me though that it is very humane.” 

-«heroine»-

The Uzu group met in the Hokage’s office with Shizune and the Hokage later that day. 

“So what went wrong? How high did you fall from?” asked Tsunade. 

“I’m still trying to figure that out Hime.” He turned to Hinata, “What is your best guess as to how far we fell from?” 

“Ano. I’m not sure. Perhaps four thousand feet. I did not have my Byakugan active. It was all I could do to catch everyone and slow them down. I could go back and try to estimate better...” 

Tsunade palmed her face. “There is no need. Jiraiya?” 

Jiraiya said, “Four thousand sounds as good as any to me. Without Hinata we would have probably died. We may have been going pretty fast when we hit the lake, but I shudder to imagine how fast we’d have been going if she had not been there. As for what went wrong, my best guess is that Naruto’s chakra is so dense that we were shot much further than I expected. I had planned for the one way trip with a component that would fade after a few hours, but my calculations for that temporary component only had us getting two thirds the way. Because of that the height above ground was also affected.” 

Tsunade asked, “You planned to end up in the air?” 

“Well, yes, it was better than appearing in the middle of the ground or something. The math said a hundred feet at most. Any ninja could easily handle that. It seems I greatly underestimated the chakra in the seal.” 

“What do you have to do to fix it? Can you fix it?” asked Tsunade. 

“Do? Just finish the set. That should stabilize things. If anything the extra strength of the origin seal will make the set better. The indeterminate destination was just the result of using the set when it was only half done. That is over and done with.” 

“And you are sure we can block usage from the other end until we get a solid base established?” 

“Sure, just move something heavy on top of the seal and don’t send it. That will prevent the other side from activating once they are linked. I’m also designing in a key. Used on either side will disconnect that end. They might be able to use the other side to jump towards this way, at least if they have a seal master who can put back in something similar to what we used to get here, but without the mate, it would be limited to one person at a time and is liable to put them in the same place we were, which unless you have Hinata’s particular skill or a similar one, your are apt to be very dead. Even that would be difficult, since the seal form is now closed. That doesn’t make it impossible to modify, but it does raise the difficulty.” 

“Fine. You should know that I had to tell the council a bit about Hinata. The story is she was injured badly and brought in by ANBU. Afterwards I sent her to Uzu with Anko and intel about this cache. Sorry Hinata, there is no way they are finding out that your eyes are that good. Anko, you are officially promoted to Jounin. Congratulations. It was overdue, and I needed a reason for Hinata to be answerable only to you, as well as something to distract them from looking into Hinata’s story too closely. Officially the key reason you were promoted now is you were shown to be an effective teacher on top of the s-rank missions. Unofficially, it seems that the Third was afraid of annoying the council. From the notes I’ve read, you were ready about two years ago. I had actually planned to get you to attend the next Jounin trials, but it is done now, and you deserved it.” 

“Thank you,” she said quietly. 

“Don’t thank me yet. To distract them from investigating the made up story too much I told them that she now has chunin level skills, including sealing and beginning medical training. I even told them about the medical chakra affinity.” 

“Was that really necessary Hime?” 

“You tell me! Her bastard father wants to seal her and throw her away. He was quite annoyed with me and our fake story. As it is, I’ve promised that her and Naruto will fight all the other genin one month from now, and if she is not promoted that bastard intends to seal her!” 

Hinata said quietly,“He has wanted to replace me with Hanabi for some time. He doesn’t like it that I let her win. I think he knows that I do it to protect her from the seal. Hanabi is quite good with Jyuken, but I still have more training.” 

Naruto said, “Don’t worry Hinata-chan, we will kick but!” 

Hinata looked over at him and smiled. 

Tsunade said, “Be that as it may, Hinata you will train with me for the next month. When I am not available you will train with either Shizune or Gai. Anko wrote that you tried to use my chakra powered punches. Have you made progress there?” 

“Ano.” 

Jiraiya said, “Probably not as much as she wanted to. She has spent a lot of time learning sealing. Fortunately, some of that should help her chakra control. The key thing you should know is that Hinata can see and manipulate the space that exists inside seals. In fact, she perfectly mapped out Anko’s seal.” 

He went through his pack until he found the scroll he was looking for and then unsealed Hinata’s papers before handing them to Tsunade. “Take a look at those when you get time. I’m hoping that Hinata will reach a point where she can remove Anko’s seal without harming her, but it is a very difficult problem. That seal is basically a living thing. Hinata has seen it’s configuration change over time. When she begins it is likely to change again, and unless she understands things almost instinctively, it will be hard for her to know what to do next to end that abomination. What we need from you is for you to let us know if any of those cursed seal bearers of Orochimaru are spotted. If we could capture one or more of them...” 

Tsunade said, “You would have guinea pigs. Fair enough. I’ll let you know if we get any intel or capture any.” Tsunade paged through the drawings carefully. “You are right. This is not just a seal. This is alive. What he heck have you done Orochimaru?” She looked at the others. “No knowledge of anything related to this goes anywhere. Got it?.” They nodded. 

“Anko, I trust you as much as I trust anyone, but looking at this, I gotta tell you, if you feel anything, you need to let us know as soon as you can. It could be important.” 

Anko nodded. 

“Actually, Shizune, go get Inochi. This is important, and I want to take a look while I can.” She nodded and left. 

Jiraiya said, “I had almost forgotten that ability. With Inochi connecting you two, you should be able to see what Hinata sees. If there is anyone who can figure out how to kill whatever this is, it would be you.” 

“You should probably take a turn later, but once is all I could ask of Inoichi, given how tiring it usually is.” She continued to look through the papers, having already gone through them all once. 

She set the papers down and bit her thumb before quickly summoning a foot tall avatar of Katsuyu. 

“Tsunade-dono.” 

“Katsuyu-san, would you do me the honor of merging with me after Shizune returns with Inochi? Inochi will show us what Hinata can see of Anko’s seal. I would value your input.” 

“I’m not sure that would be advisable Tsunade-dono. The link the Yamanakas can forge is a fragile thing. To add a merging with me on the top of that is likely too much.” 

“Well, what do you think about allowing Hinata to summon you?” Naruto seemed particularly worried at the suggestion. 

“I do not know her.” Kasuyu turned to Hinata and asked, “Do you wish to be a slug summoner?” 

Hinata glanced at Naruto who gave her a small cautious smile before looking down a the small slug and considered it for about ten seconds. “I had not expected this yet I would be honored to summon slugs Katsuyu-sama if it could help my friends.” Her voice was without inflection, but a careful look at her face seemed to indicate that she was perhaps less than thrilled. 

Katsuyu asked, “Do you know what that means? There is only one of me. I can divide myself into many parts. I would merge with you to do this thing Tsunade wants. I would know your thoughts. If I accepted you, a part of me would always be merged with you. That is how you would be able to call me in need. That is how I can use your energy to accomplish tasks.” 

Hinata’s eyes widened. “Ano. I don’t mean to be rude, but, could I change my mind later?” 

“Of course. Either of us can.” 

Naruto said, “I could also ask the toads.” 

Hinata said softly, “That would not work as well. One of your clones could summon a toad larger than I could and if you were in such a state where you were unable to summon, then Katsuyu is the better choice to help me heal you.” 

“k.” 

Tsunade said, “I’ve never regretted my choice. Heck, if it wasn’t for Katsuyu, I’d have probably died from alcohol poisoning. She is a loyal friend.” 

Hinata said, “I’ll do it.” 

“Then lay down.” 

Hinata laid down on the floor. Katsuyu’s small form glided across the floor and hopped up on her stomach before sinking down into Hinata. She said, “It feels strange. Warm. Alive. Bright.” Naruto looked on in concern. 

Tsunade said, “Just relax. It will take a couple of minutes the first time. Focus on your breathing. Think of nothing else. Just relax.” 

Hinata was not sure how much time passed. When she looked up Inochi was there. He asked, “Are you ready?” 

“Yes.” 

“Let’s use the couch. You, me, then the Hokage. Anko can sit in front where you can easily see her seal.” They rearranged themselves. “Hinata, your mental defenses are surprisingly good. You must focus on letting me do this, or this will not work. Do you understand?” 

“I understand.” 

Inochi put his right hand on Hinata’s neck and his left on Tsunade’s. To Hinata, the world seemed to go slightly fuzzy before returning. She could now feel Katsuyu, Inochi, Tsunade, and was that Katsuyu again. The last one was faint, but there. She felt the connection slipping and focused on it; focused on the reality of the link. It firmed. 

Something odd happened. The connection seemed to snap and suddenly Hinata was gone. Katsuyu was gone. Tsunade was gone, and even Inochi was gone. It didn’t matter. It had a purpose. It’s purposes was to look at Anko’s seal. With a thought the world of the seal opened before them in ultra high definition detail. It was intricate yet dark. Lot’s of pieces seemed to have no meaning whatsoever. It was as if bits and pieces of different seals were combined to make this. It wasn’t important. They had not found that. Was it even here? What was the it they were thinking of? Core. It is a sentient entity. There must be a core to that sentience. Something that defines the essence of the thing. Deeper. A page beyond the world that was known. Something strained and snapped. The page turned. There. A core of misshapen darkness. What is that? Souls. Multiple? Abomination. Evil. Cast off bits and pieces of souls welded together badly. Glued together with a skin of evil. Orochimaru? Destroy it. Must be destroyed. Searing green light flooded out of somewhere and shot at the abomination, not to heal, but to purify. It burned. More power flooded out. Erase it from existence. Half gone now. Now three quarters. Gone. All gone. Danger. Structure here dependent on what was destroyed. Flee. Flee. The entity pulled back. Not fast enough. The entity accelerated, turning the page only to have the page fall apart as it was turned. More. The entity jumped towards the life and light and fell to pieces. 

-«heroine»-

Shizune smiled as Tsunade finally began to wake. They had been out for almost twenty four hours. She hoped that the others would wake soon. 

Tsunade stared up blearily. “What happened?” 

“You tell me?” 

“I don’t know. We did something. A merge, but not a planned one. Shouldn’t have worked that way. I think it was Katsuyu. Katsuyu and Hinata. Katsuyu was part of Hinata and even without a merge Katsuyu is part of me. Hinata did something. Did it work? Did we destroy the seal? No, that is not right. Did we kill Orochimaru?” 

“Well, I don’t know about Orochimaru, but the seal is gone. We almost lost Anko though. She seems fine now, but she hasn’t woke up yet either, but then that is the least I’d expect from that level of chakra exhaustion.” Tsunade tried to get up. 

“Relax. She is in no current danger, and you trying to help before you are a bit more rested will not help.” 

“What of Hinata and Inoichi?” 

“They seem okay. Their chakra was depleted, but not dangerously so. So is yours for that matter, but Anko was the only one we nearly lost.” 

Tsunade looked around. The others were in nearby beds. 

“Jiraiya made this room secure. He is in the hall.” 

“What does the council know of this?” 

Jiraiya walked in. It seemed he had a way to listen. He said, “I left a clone in the hall. Good to see you awake Hime.” 

“Council?” 

“I told them a version of the truth, but not remotely all of it. It was the best I could do at short notice. Simply put Hinata agreed to help you try to destroy the seal with Inoichi’s help so you could use her eyes. They will have assumed it was for what you get from an ordinary Byakugan, and not what you really got. I told them you succeeded, but the backlash from the seal put you all in the hospital. Do you really think you killed off our teammate?” 

“As surprising as it is to say that, I don’t think there is any choice. I should summon Katsuyu. Find out what happened, and if she is okay.” 

Shizune said, “I would not. Your chakra still is not fully recovered.” 

“You can give me the chakra I need for this.” 

“If you are sure. Don’t hold my chakra long. You have too little of yours to keep control of mine for long.” 

“I did teach you.” commented Tsunade. Shizune held out her right hand palm up as a pool of calm blue chakra gathered in her palm. Tsunade covered her right hand with her own as the chakra seeped into her. Less than a minute later Tsunade pulled her hand back, nicked her thumb and summoned a small avatar of Katsuyu. 

“Tsunade-dono, it is good to see you well. I do hope, however, that you do not wish to do that again very soon. It was unpleasant.” 

Tsunade smiled. “I’m not planning on it. Did we kill Orochimaru?” 

“We did, but in doing so we touched on the forbidden. We purified him and all the souls he abused, but the damage was already done to those souls. I do not know if they can be reborn in the pure world. The abomination had to be destroyed, but it may still have been an evil thing.” 

Tsunade asked, “Was their another way?” 

“No. I do not think there was a way to save what was left. We at least ended it.” 

“Do you require anything of me?” 

“No Tsunade-dono. It is just upsetting to be involved in anything that harmed a soul, let alone eleven of them. The true crime was done by Orochimaru. We just cleaned up the mess.” 

Tsunade said, “Anko nearly died. Do we know if the Uchiha died?” 

“I do not know Tsunade-dono. Anko had the seal for a long time, but resisted it. Sasuke had it for a short time, but apparently did not. He may life or not. I do not know.” 

“Thank you Katsuyu.” 

“Tell Hinata-san, that for now she may summon me at need. In time I will require her to either commit to my service or to separate fully from me. Her mind agrees that we are useful to each other, and that I might be able to help heal Naruto if he was sick, but I require more. It may be that there is another summon that calls to her. There is no dishonor in that.” 

“I’ll tell her.” 

“Goodbye Tsunade-dono.” Katsuyu vanished into a puff of smoke. 

Tsunade started to get up, only to be helped by Shizune. They then walked carefully over to Hinata, who was even now waking up. 

Hinata looked up into their eyes. “Ano.” 

“Rest Hinata. You did well.” 

Tsunade and Shizune moved over to Inoichi. Tsunade ran a softly glowing palm over his head briefly. “He seems fine.” They then moved over to Anko. She repeated the brief scan. “Her as well, though I doubt she is up before tomorrow.” 

“Well, Hime, if everyone is fine I’ll go send my shadow clone to get us something to eat. Do you have any preferences?” 

Tsunade smiled. It was rare chance to get Jiraiya to pay for something good. “Why yes, I can think of a few things. Get your notebook.” 

Jiraiya paled as Tsunade listed off suggestions. Ah well, he could afford it. He handed his clone his money pouch and the list. 

Everyone but Anko was released the next day after eating a very nice meal, and then leftovers a couple of times. 

-«heroine»-

Anko woke a day later, but would have to stay a few more days to recover from chakra exhaustion. Tsunade, and Jiraiya met back in her hospital room and began to discuss training. 

Tsunade said, “I’ll take over Hinata’s training, with Shizune as my backup until your up and about Anko. I probably won’t be able to spend as much time as I’d like, so I’ll count on you to follow up and to also attend my lessons to be able to help her, and yourself for that matter.” 

Anko said, “Of course. We probably also should remember that if the plan is still for Naruto and Hinata to be a team, then we need to have them train together when possible. Thankfully Naruto’s clone ability makes that possible.” 

Jiraiya said, “True. For now I’m going to find Kakashi. Like Tsunade, my time is limited. Most of my time will be spent on creating the end point for the travel seal for this end. I’ll enlist Kakashi to help with Naruto’s training, though I’ll probably do about half of it myself as well. Naruto can also create a couple clones. One can stay with me for the seal work and the other can stay with Hinata. I’ll do most of the work to create the end point, but there is no point in not taking advantage of the shadow clones. They can even probably help create some of the it. This end is going to take some work. We want to be very sure it is as secure as we can make it. If the work destroys his clones, he can make more.” 

Tsunade said, “Well that sounds like a plan. Anko, are you familiar with moving chakra along the surface of your skin?” 

“Yah, I can do it. I wouldn’t call myself great at it, but I know the skill.” 

“Well, then you should be able to skip my first lesson. Tomorrow you can even practice it, but use the smallest amount of chakra you can manipulate, and make sure to reabsorb it. At the first sign of tiring stop. You are still recovering.” 

“Will do,” said Anko in a jaunty tone. 

-«heroine»-

Tsunade brought Hinata, Sakura, and Naruto’s clone to the Hokage’s private training ground. “Sakura, Hinata is only going to be here for a month. I expect you to learn as best as you can and I will still train you, but for this month, you will be a lower priority. Understood?” 

“Hai Hokage-sama.” 

“Naruto, watch and learn as you can. It is possible you will learn enough to have a clone attempt what I am going to teach, but don’t ever try it with your real self. Control on the level required is very difficult to obtain. For someone with your reserves very difficult may be impossible. The chance of the backlash killing you is very high, particularly with the amount you can call forth and it only takes one mistake. Do the exercises with clones. You can try the real thing with clones if you want, but only if no one is nearby and it is someplace we don’t mind destroyed. The clones will almost certainly be destroyed, but the skill could still be valuable. Once again, don’t try it yourself ever, and for now don’t try anything I haven’t approved. Even if your original can send another clone, you could still easily accidentally kill Hinata or Sakura in the attempt. Understood?” 

“I understand,” he said soberly. 

“Don’t worry. We are going to be careful. I just don’t think you realize quite how much chakra you toss around. You likely had more chakra than me before you even graduated the academy. Control will always be something you will have to work at. If you learn one thing from these lessons it will be ways to improve that control. Once you start using chakra more effectively it will be much more dangerous, and by more effectively, I don’t mean bigger jutsu. A hundred shadow clones doing one small jutsu or attack well, will almost always be more effective than one Naruto, no matter what jutsu you learn. This is something you should all learn. The application of power is key, and can be more important than the total amount of power.” 

Sakura’s eyes widened at the news. 

Tsunade turned to Sakura. “As my apprentice you will learn some secrets. You will keep them, particularly in regards to your team mates. Just imagine if the clones he used to fight Gaara could punch like me, even if doing so destroyed them.” 

Sakura’s eyes bulged and even Hinata looked concerned. She said quietly, “Is this wise?” 

“Probably not, but Konoha’s enemies are S-ranked. Wise isn’t going to cut it. I would die if I tried to make so many clones and so would Jiraiya. That is the truth of your former teammate, and yes, that too is a secret. I don’t suppose I need to remind you of the punishment for revealing what must not be revealed. You get to learn more than most because he is a team mate.” 

Sakura gulped then nodded. 

Tsunade seemed to consider. “Naruto come at me. Ordinary chakra enhancement is fine. No jutsu.” 

They watched as Tsunade seemed to easily redirect his attacks as he hit the ground over and over again. “Enough.” she said. “What you saw is an example of me redirecting the energy in Taijutsu attacks. More specifically, it is a martial art called Tai Chi. I used no chakra at all, yet still redirected his blows, sending his energy back into him or into the Earth. Look it up in the library. Maybe Gai or Anko can find a teacher. I doubt I have time. Shizune is also decent at this. Actually, come to think of it, Ibiki is a fair hand at it as well. It works well to intimidate those he has to talk with.” 

Hinata said, “I know of this. It was in the old scrolls. My mother studied this. Anko uses part of this. I’ve been meaning to try to find those scrolls again, but last time Father caught me and hid them.” 

“I’ll talk with Hiashi and see if I can do something. No promises, but it is a good skill to learn. Just remember its limitations. The chakra enhanced strikes I am teaching will blow right through it. Some other styles will as well, such as what Gai teaches. You can get around that somewhat by chakra reinforcement, but even that has limits. The girls may be able to use part of what I’m teaching, but only if you can predict the timing very closely, which is very difficult.” Turning to Naruto she asked, “Why is this kind of skill particularly useful for you to learn?” 

He considered for a few moments before saying, “Because it might not pop my clones?” 

“Correct. Now, back to the main topic. My enhanced strength technique is not just one technique, but rather an exercise in extreme control of your bodies parts and chakra flow. The chakra channeled to my hands and fingers must be released once the build up begins. To not do so, means your tenketsu explode, likely removing one or more body parts. This can be done in one of two ways. First, you can release it in a mostly harmless flash of chakra. Second you can control it to the point that you can for just the smallest part of a moment boost your natural strength by an enormous amount. The timing is critical. A little bit either way and the results can be disastrous. At the same time you do this you must reinforce your entire arm and part of your body with chakra.” 

“Done absolutely perfectly, your arm and body become strong enough for that instant to shatter a mountain. Mess up the timing or the control and you can destroy your body. It only takes once. The key is that with training you can train your muscles and body to accept very powerful but also incredibly short bursts of chakra. By keeping the duration short, the damage to your own body is limited. That is the razors edge my technique requires. That is what you will learn. I’ll also tell you this, there are those, such as Chiyo in Suna who have figured out what I’ve just told you. That doesn’t mean you can tell anyone what I am telling you. It is only to show how difficult this is to replicate. So far Shizune has not managed it and I’ve not tried to teach anyone else. Anko is probably closest, but she still causes herself serious injuries. I’m hoping she will do better with personal training, but you have to expect serious injuries. You must learn to heal yourself when you screw up, for you will screw up. You just have to make sure it is not so bad that it is not something you can’t heal.” 

“Today we will begin with a chakra control exercise. It is a precursor to learning to release that chakra in a harmless flash. Sakura has already began to learn. You must perfect this ability before you learn to release chakra for this technique. Releasing chakra harmlessly must be something you could do when your completely exhausted and have a sword in your gut. One screw up and your done. You have to be able to release it from almost anywhere, since it is not just your fingertip that has to be enhanced. If you don’t reinforce the rest of your body correctly, the damage will just be elsewhere, and many of those reinforcements must be well beyond safe levels. Screw up, and if your lucky, it might only be a limb and I might be able to regenerate it, assuming you can live long enough to get to me.” 

They listened in rapt attention, even Sakura, who presumably heard this before. Tsunade continued, “But again, before we learn to release chakra like that you must first master shape manipulation. Naruto, do the first stage of the Rasengan. Hinata, Eyes on.” 

A puzzled Naruto focused chakra into the palm of his hand. It formed into a sphere of swirling chakra and began to pick up speed. It started to sound a bit like a small jet engine as it solidified. 

“That is enough of that. Dissipate it.” Naruto did. “There you see an example of shape manipulation. It is a difficult one to master for most. At least, I presume you have not mastered it Naruto. Last I heard, you still require a clone for the full version, plus you can’t reabsorb it.” Hinata released her Byakugan. 

“Reabsorb it?” queried Naruto. 

“You don’t think the fourth wasted all the chakra every time he used that technique did you? No, he could reabsorb almost the entire thing. That is why it was such an effective technique for him. He could generate it in the blink of an eye and reabsorb it just as quickly. His chakra control actually rivaled my own. That is the level of control you must all obtain, and yes Naruto, if you can get to that level of control, it will help you just as much as it helped the fourth. It will be harder for you given your reserves.” 

“Now, this is how you begin. Eyes Hinata.” They watched as Tsunade formed a ball of chakra in the palm of her hand. It was little more than the size of a dime. The ball then traveled down the palm of her hand then along the inside of her forearm before moving around her arm and back up the outside then along one side of her middle finger and back to the palm of her hand before vanishing. 

“Sakura, let’s see where your at.” 

She formed the tiny ball in her palm. It moved down her palm and vanished. Hinata again deactivated her eyes. 

“As you can see, this exercise is very difficult. Sakura has excellent chakra control and has only gotten this far. Hinata, what was Sakura doing wrong? 

Hinata blinked. Tsunade said, “Yes, I am actually asking. I don’t have super vision, nor is there another Hyuga that I would trust to learn this.” 

“Ano. The connection to her chakra was fine in her palm, but it grew weaker as she moved it. I think if she just uses more chakra for now it should help.” 

“Do it.” 

Sakura sighed. “Shisho already told me that was what it probably was. I’ve tried sending more, but it is difficult.” She repeated the exercise. Hinata reactivated her eyes. The strain was evident in Sakura’s expression as the chakra flared in her palm. This time she got it almost another inch before it flared and vanished. 

Hinata said hesitantly, “You may simply need more chakra. There is a chakra building exercise we were taught as a child. It is similar to this. You simply pool chakra to your palms and let it dissipate into the air. At first using only one hand, but later using both. You then use your Byakugan to estimate your remaining chakra. When you are almost out you go to bed. This is a main house technique. It can’t get out that I told you.” 

Tsunade sighed. “Nice. Your family teaches you to regularly bring your chakra to almost the point of exhaustion to force chakra coil expansion. I’m amazed no one has died, though I suppose those eyes help with that.” 

“Ano.” 

“Some have died,” she said flatly. 

Hinata nodded. 

“Great.” 

Sakura asked hesitantly, “Can you help me with that? Um safely?” 

“While I’m here, yes. I’ll have to stop by your house before you sleep.” 

Tsunade said, “I don’t like it, but I’ll allow it. Just remember it can kill. Hinata you will stay for at least twenty minutes after she stops using chakra. Meditate, read, practice, stare at the stars, I don’t care, but make sure she is stable. Got it? This kind of thing is dangerous as hell. One step too far and you go to sleep and don’t wake up.” 

“Hai.” 

“Actually, come to think of it, I want you two to stay together at night. You can help each other. Sakura, listen to her descriptions when she uses her eyes and use them to develop your own senses.” 

Sakura said, “I’m not sure that would work. My room is not big.” 

Hinata said, “It would be awkward at my house. Father would be quite angry at me teaching her.” 

“Fine. Shizune will arrange a place for you for now, possibly at her place. Now, Hinata, your turn.” 

Hinata activated her eyes and formed the ball of chakra. The ball slowly began to move. It reached almost the edge of her wrist before it seemed to stop. Tsunade repeated the demonstration, moving it back and forth from wrist to arm. Hinata repeated the attempt. Slowly, ever so slowly the ball moved from her wrist to just past onto her arm before vanishing. 

“An excellent start,” Tsunade said. 

“That is so not fair,” Sakura said. 

“It is the early training, plus her eyes. Don’t worry, you will get there.” 

Naruto’s clone asked, “Can I try?” 

“Sure, why not? This is just a chakra exercise you can learn. If your clone pops, your original can send another. Now everyone everyone again.” 

Three hours later, the girls were exhausted and resting. Naruto’s fourth clone was easily moving the ball around his palm right where the Rasengan normally sat, but could not quite succeed in moving it to his forearm. Hinata had reached half way up her forearm while Sakura had managed another inch. 

“Sakura Hinata, meet Shizune in front of the Hokage tower after dinner. You can practice after, but when Hinata says stop, you stop. Hinata, are you still trying to expand your chakra?” 

“No, we normally stop when we become genin.” 

“Why?” asked Tsunade curiously. 

“I don’t know.” 

“Restart it, but be careful. I’ll have Shizune supervise. In fact, I will make sure you somehow are with her while your here so she can deal with any issues that arise. Eat a lot of carbs for now. Shizune can come up with a food plan. Follow it, even if you don’t want to. If you want to regenerate chakra fast, you must give your body what it needs.” 

Sakura and Hinata nodded. 

Naruto blushed faintly and looked very guilty. Tsunade noticed. 

“Hinata Sakura, find the original Naruto and drag him along. Make sure he eats something and make sure Shizune gives him a food plan too. He can sleep in his own house of course. He is in no danger of chakra exhaustion. Oh and Naruto, I plan to stop by Ichiraku’s and tell them your not allowed to eat there more than twice a week.” 

“What?” he exclaimed. “No!!” 

Tsunade grinned. “Yes. Oh cheer up, I’ll see if they can make you something a bit healthier. If they can, you can go there more often. You just can’t have ramen. I’ll even pay for it. Hinata can stop by your apartment now and then and make sure your not sneaking instant ramen.” 

Hinata blushed. 

“Not the ramen.” 

“Afraid so gaki. You are too short. In fact, I’ll have Shizune actually test your blood to see exactly what all your deficient in. Given your diet, I’m half afraid of the results.” 

Naruto pouted. 

“Don’t sulk. Now dispel and get your real self here.” He vanished in a puff of smoke. A large wail could be heard from across the town. Hinata smiled a small smile as she activated her eyes in that general direction. 

“Remember, find him if he doesn’t show and tell me if you find him cheating on his diet. Probably the biggest thing we can do to make sure he gets stronger is to fix his diet. I half wonder if that alone would affect what he retains from shadow clone training. You might even be able to pick up some things from Shizune’s tests.” Hinata nodded seriously. 

“Good. Rest for another half hour, then I want you two to spar for at least an hour. Taijutsu only, no chakra, not even your eyes Hinata. I’ll try to find someone to supervise, but if not, you can manage on your own. Remember your goal is to learn, not to win. After that, you are dismissed for dinner. Follow Shizune’s instructions afterwards and then meet back here at the same time tomorrow.” 

-«heroine»-

Sakura had to have help to crawl to her impromptu bed roll. They were sleeping in Shizune’s living room. Shizune had no chance to find anyplace else and after thinking about it decided not to bother. Her house may be small, but she was also setup to handle minor medical emergencies here, which made this place best. They could rotate who got the couch. 

Sakura said, “I can’t believe you did this for years.” 

“It would be inappropriate for a main house Hyuga to be weak, but then father always thought I was weak.” 

“That is a joke. You weak? I’ve seen you.” 

“Anko-sensei has said as much. It is still difficult at times.” 

“What about what Shizune found with Naruto? She literally dragged him off to the hospital to get a bunch of shots. I think the only reason he went was that Shizune threatened to go get Shisho.” 

Hinata didn’t speak. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. 

Sakura said, “Hey, I know you like him. If you too really are going to be together then you can make sure he eats well.” 

Hinata said quietly,“That may be difficult.” 

“Why is that?” 

“Jiraiya-sensei and Anko-sensei do not eat well.” 

“Well, you guys got all those storage seals right? Just get Shisho to give you a few. That way you can eat whatever you want.” 

“That may work.” 

Hinata smiled a small smile. 

“What?” inquired Sakura. 

“I can just see Naruto making copies of the storage seals and loading them up at the first ramen stand he can find. I bet he finds out how to make scrolls just as good as those Uzumaki scrolls if it means he can hoard his own ramen supply.” 

“You’re saying, my former teammates will duplicate a seal no one has done in years, just because he wants ramen.” 

“No,” Hinata said, while smiling the same small smile, “I think he will improve it. His seal will likely somehow keep the ramen hot.” 

Sakura sighed. “You know, what is really scary, I think I believe you.” 

“Maybe it would be easier to figure out how to make ramen healthier.” 

-«heroine»-

Naruto was back at his house. He had twenty clones studying the problem. It was literally wall to wall Narutos in the tiny apartment. “All right guys. You understand the mission.” 

The closest “Right boss. We just need to figure out how to make a storage scroll for Ramen that Hinata can’t see through. How hard can it be? Maybe we can make it look like, what was that crap they wanted us to eat?” 

“One of them was Spinach.” 

“Oh hell. Not touching that stuff. It is nasty.” 

“Agreed. We must not fail this sacred mission.” 

“We will not fail! For the Ramen!” 

“Hmm, maybe we can hide a ramen storage element inside of an explosive seal. Sure we would have to probably sacrifice a loyal clone to disarm it, but that is a small price to pay!” 

“Genius!” 

“Um, guys, but what if we use those on um bad guys?” 

“Blasphemy!” 

“Why would we waste ramen on bad guys?” 

“Well, we can only carry so many seals, and not much ramen will fit at least if we want to be able to hide it behind the explosive matrix.” 

“I don’t get it, can’t we just kill the bad guy some other way?” 

“That sounds wise.” 

A previously quiet clone said, “This will not end well. We will be forced to blow someone up, then they will smell like ramen and Hinata-chan will know.” 

Said quiet clone was quietly popped. “Stupid clone.” 

“I bet this is why the fourth invented the Hiraishin.” 

“There is wisdom in your words clone-san. Step one. Hidden ramen. Step two. Ichiraku transport seal.” 

“For the ramen!” 

“For the ramen!” 

“Hmm, I think if we slightly modify the explosive seal elements we can make the Ramen come out piping hot.” 

“Isn’t there something wrong with that idea?” asked another brave clone. 

The clone next to him smacked him in the head, instantly dispelling him. “Nope. No problem.” 

The real Naruto looked on in pride. 

-«heroine»-

Jiraiya was in the Hokage’s office when she got back. He was also drinking her sake. 

“Stop wasting that!” she yelled. 

He poured her a small glass that she quickly downed before pushing him out of her chair and sitting down. 

“How goes things hime?” 

“Sakura’s progress is fine. Hinata’s is very good. Her base training as a Hyuga is helping a great deal. I’m less than thrilled that the main branch Hyuga regularly do forced chakra growth during their academy years, but it is still useful, so I have Sakura and Hinata getting back to it with Shizune supervising. Hinata is going to need it, if she is going to stand beside Naruto. Sakura likely will as well if she wants to take after me. Even Naruto is making some progress on the chakra control aspect, though there is no way he can keep up with the girls with that much chakra.” 

“You might be surprised. He has really taking to the shadow clone training that Anko started. I stopped by where she and Asuma were training him. Asuma switched with Kakashi, once they found out Naruto had a wind chakra nature. He had at least a hundred clones doing nothing but your chakra training exercise and was besides the hundred that were trying to cut a leaf with wind chakra. The first set had gotten past the wrist last I looked, though I don’t think the second had gotten anywhere with the leaves yet. Of course, you will probably have another dead tree pretty soon...” 

“Surprising,” muttered Tsunade. “I still wonder if there are any long term effects of that. Shizune is supposed to fix his diet, so that may help, and sure he doesn’t really remember all of it, so he doesn’t really have two hundred times as many memories, but it still must take a toll, even with the Kyuubi.” 

“You could take a look,” suggested Jiraiya. 

“No, I barely have time to train the others. If Shizune sees anything she can’t handle I’ll take a look, but for now I’ll trust Shizune and Hinata with those details. Just make sure that if Hinata asks you to get something decent to eat on the road you will at least try? As it is I need to go through a ton of Hokage crap before I can sleep tonight.” 

“Sure hime. We’ve got the scrolls. I’ll ask Shizune for the list and pack what I can.” 

She glared at him carefully, as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth. “You know you could actually eat some of it too?” 

“Oh come on. I don’t try to take away your saki do I?” She glared at him again, affronted by the very thought. 

Jiraiya suggested, “You know, you could use a couple clones to organize the reports. Sure you probably won’t remember all the details, but the important ones could be set aside for you to read personally. They could also write notes for you to review.” 

Tsunade considered. “That could work. I still won’t have much free time, but I might be able to get in some training of my own. I’d also like to try to spend some time with Ino and Tenten. One is not where she should be. The other needs something more if she is to truly excel. I considered sending her to you for seal training. She knows a bit. Of course, If what is in Gai’s reports can be trusted, he recommends against teaching her to learn to create her own explosive tags. I believe his exact words were it risked a dangerous level of youth.” 

Jiraiya laughed. “We’ll I’ll leave that up to you. You know enough to teach her that or to find another to do so, and any training at all in sealing is going to get her there. For that matter, your skills may be the best in the village when I’m not here. Once she learns the basics, I can of course teach her more.” 

“Actually,” Tsunade said, “What do you think of Naruto sending another clone her way to teach what he can while he is here? Would that spread him too thin?” 

“Doubt it, but who is going to tell Gai?” 

“You.” 

“Ah hell. Fine. At least I’ll be gone by the time she learns anything truly dangerous. But just remember if she somehow manages to attach explosive seals to all those weapons she releases from scrolls then, well, this was not my idea.” 

Tsunade glared at him. She asked, “Do you think they can win against all the other chunin? Gai’s team is dangerous. Asuma’s has effective teamwork and a genius on it. Kurenai’s can absorb Sakura into her team for now. They may not come after Hinata and Naruto with a full effort, but I suspect they will at lest try. That is nine genin against two.” 

“They need a plan. The most obvious one is for Naruto to spam clones to keep everyone busy, while the original and Hinata protect each other and take out the lesser threats. I’d also make sure to remove Shikamaru early on, but do it in a way that works with his natural laziness. That needs thought. After that I’d work on removing Shino from the equation. Naruto can probably do that by summoning a large toad. He will likely yield to protect his swarm. If Shino is not removed, his bugs could take Hinata out. Neji and Lee will be destroying clones at a ridiculous rate. I’ll make sure Naruto improves his ability at simply delaying with clones. I’d take out Ino next. Does she know?” 

“Yes, I stopped by her house. Between myself and Inoichi, she understands and seems reasonably well adjusted to the idea, or did when we left. She was actually quite angry to know that Konoha treated Naruto like crap for something he had no control over. I figure that Shikamaru will probably eventually guess, given her changed behavior, but he is smart enough to shut up.” 

Jiraiya said, “That works. Still, the switch could take out Hinata, and with a bit of teamwork, she could manage it, so she has to be a priority. Choji can be next, just to get him out of the way. Then Sakura, and possibly Tenten. She will be limited in effectiveness by the number of people there, but is still dangerous and will grow more so as the numbers are thinned. Are you really sure we want to teach her about seals now?” 

Tsunade said, “They don’t have to win to be promoted, and she can’t just launch explosives in a field of those on her side.” 

“If you say so. Gai is not known to be overly cautious in any training. I just can’t help but think that he taught Lee to use the gates, which is insanely risky, but thinks teaching Tenten sealing is somehow a step too far.” 

“Noted and in a world without a stack of potential S-ranked threats I would agree.” 

Jiraiya nodded. “Well, after that Kiba and the rest of Gai’s team anyway you can, though some kind of trap may simplify some of this.” 

Tsunade said, “A fine plan for all of that, but could Naruto and Hinata come up with something as good? I’ll not give it to them. The rank must still be earned. I’ll give Anko a standing order to get her out of the village on a long term mission right away if she loses. If, she is on an active mission, any interference by her clan is treason. Hiashi will be pissed, but he can shove it. I’ll not tolerate him trying to defy me.” 

Jiraiya said, “Shikaku owes me a favor or two. Get them to spend an hour a day with him on tactics and strategy. Sakura can probably sit that out for now. She is too clever. Her participation may reduce the participation of the other two.” 

“And it won’t help them win, considering she is on the opposing team.” 

“That too.” 

“Fine, but if it works well I may try to get Shikaku to teach an actual class. Too many genin form strategies that see at best a few seconds ahead. Actually, I could get Shikaku to teach this set of genin and then Shikamaru to teach those at the academy. I’ll just make it so that Shikamaru’s job isn’t done until the majority of them pass a test created by Shikaku.” 

“Well, that is bound to be troublesome,” noted the toad summoner. 

“Of that I have no doubt.” 

Jiraiya asked cautiously, “What about the forcing?” 

“Add it to the academy? No, I think not. Sakura and Hinata are now careful enough that the risk may be justified and manageable. The average academy student is not. There would be deaths. Still, we need to go beyond this nonsense of the academy three being enough to graduate. That is just silly. Water walking should be required at minimum. If Naruto can learn, then anyone can learn.” 

“Agreed. They might even be able to hold some classes on a lake or other prepared area...” “Better yet. Avoiding humiliation is a powerful motivator.” 

-«heroine»-

Hiashi sat down to dinner. Hanabi was missing, having been deliberately tired out in training so she went straight to bed. There was a new arrival at the table. Neji was sitting there and looking quite uncomfortable. Hiashi waited until the branch house member who was serving their dinner left and closed the door before speaking. 

“Neji,” he said quietly. 

“Hiashi-sama,” he said formally. 

“One month from now there will be a new mini chunin exam. It will involve your team, along with Asuma and Kurenai’s team along with Sakura Haruno. All of you will face Naruto Uzumaki and my daughter. I will be training you for the exam. You will tell no one that I informed you of this exam. Do you have any questions?” 

Neji was puzzled and it showed on his face. “Nine genin against two? Am I missing something? Hinata-sama was unable to beat me in the preliminaries.” 

In an uncertain tone Hiashi said, “I am unsure. It has been said that her taijutsu has improved considerably under the efforts of both Anko and Jiraiya-san. She is also reported to be learning medical jutsu and sealing. If this is true, then it improves the odds of her becoming the heir. This would not displease me, though her apparent abandoning of true Jyuken does displease me. One other thing that would displease me is if you did not use this opportunity to become chunin. I don’t have to tell you why you failed last time do I?” 

Neji said quietly, “Gai made sure I learned that lesson. He made me watch the tape several times. I played with my opponent, then let my emotions get the better of me.” 

“Correct.” 

“I will not do that again. It allowed Naruto to use whatever that was to win. It was only later that I figured out what that was.” 

“You do know the penalty of revealing that?” 

“Yes, Gai told me of it after I mentioned figuring it out. If I’m right, Hinata has known for a long time.” 

“Correct again. As she was in Naruto’s class, I told her and commanded her to secrecy. It may have technically bent the Hokage’s law, but with her in the same class there was little choice. She would have figured something was different and told others.” 

“Is he safe for Hinata-sama to be around?” 

“The seal my teammate created is solid. It will contain it, unless Naruto foolishly lets the beast have too much control, at least for now. After the month is over, should my daughter become a chunin she will leave with Naruto, Jiraiya, and Anko. The danger to Hinata is more from those who hunt Naruto for the beast.” 

“Am I to try to win?” he asked. 

“Yes, to do less would be to dishonor yourself and the Hyuga clan. Though I warn you, should you attempt to kill her again, without her first attempting to kill you, I will be most displeased. In fact, it is very likely that I would activate the seal and kill you myself. I have not forgotten what you did in the preliminaries. Defeating my daughter was appropriate. She was less skilled and deserved to lose. She was also extremely foolish to continue rising and trying to fight after you gave her severe internal injuries. While her honor was on the line, she gained none by pushing herself to the point of death for a mere rank exam. That alone disqualified her from becoming a Chunin at that time, just as your losing control of your emotions did. If it were not for Tsunade-san my daughter would have died from her injuries. Your attempt to kill her was, however, the worst part. As a member of the branch house, you do not have the right to decide if a member of the main house lives or dies. Do not make that mistake again. It will not be forgiven a second time.” 

“Yes, Hiashi-sama,” Neji said in clipped tones. 

“Liking me is not required. You will be here tomorrow morning to begin your training.” 

“Of course, Hiashi-sama.” 

“There is one more thing you may think of, though you should not discuss it with anyone, nor write these thoughts down.” Neji looked at him with interest. “If she is strong enough to become a chunin, and if she is also strong enough to beat me in two years, she will become the next leader of the clan. What do you think she would do as leader?” 

Neji’s eyes widened. 

“I see you begin to understand. Now, what do you think the elders of the clan would do to her if she tried that and wasn’t strong enough to crush them?” 

Neji’s eyes widened further. 

“You are dismissed. If you have further thoughts on this matter you will keep them to yourself. I will not mention it again.” 

“I understand Hiashi-sama. I will not fail.” Neji’s tone even seemed to have a small amount of respect in it at the end. 

Hiashi gave him a small nod. 

-«heroine»-

Naruto and Hinata sat in Shikaku’s den. There was a large skylight over the table. It seemed that Shikamaru’s father also liked to watch clouds. 

“Do you understand why you are here?” 

Hinata said, “Anko said you were to be our tactics trainer.” 

“Correct. Do you both understand why you failed the chunin exam?” 

“Hey, I thought I did pretty good. I just figured that since jiji died, the others didn’t like me, so it wasn’t going to happen.” 

Shikaku turned to Hinata. 

“I was not good enough to beat Neji, but that was not the real problem. The way I acted afterward, pointlessly risking my life for a rank exam.” 

“Did you come to that conclusion on your own?” 

“Partly. Anko also discussed it with me.” 

“You are correct. Naruto is incorrect. I read the Hokage’s notes. You used planning and such that were arguably chunin level, but you also tapped into the Kyuubi’s chakra for a rank exam. That was inappropriate. Losing would have been a better choice there. Using the Kyubi’s chakra basically advertised to every Jounin there that you were a Jinchuriki. That was unwise.” 

Naruto looked quickly at Hinata. She didn’t blink. 

“I see you did not know that she already knew. Well, clearly she doesn’t care, so moving on. Losing after demonstrating your best skill would have been the better outcome. It may not have gotten you to chunin, but given the flaws in your Taijutsu at that time, you likely didn’t deserve it anyway.” 

“Hey, I also defeated Gaara afterward.” 

“That was a notable achievement, but you also used the Kyuubi’s chakra again. Admittedly you probably didn’t have a choice then, but the chunin board is interested in your skills, not what you can do with the aid of the demon. I don’t mean to minimize your own involvement. It was very impressive and I am glad you did it. It doesn’t change that you did not demonstrate the leadership qualities required for chunin rank, nor did you use an especially clever strategy that would have shown similarly impressive planning. Do you understand?” 

“Yah, I need to plan farther ahead.” 

“Correct.” 

“Now, what are the problems you have to resolve in the next ten years? Hinata can go first.” 

“Ano. I need to become much stronger. If we fail to get promoted to chunin, my chance for advancement will be nearly stopped. I will be sealed and if I survive the sealing I will be unable to support Naruto-kun or do anything outside of what the main house orders. Even if I succeed, I need to continue to get stronger to protect my teammates from potential S-ranked threats. If we manage that, I must face and defeat my father, without alienating the clan. It will be difficult, but I wish to try to become clan leader. I must also do it without killing him, which will be even harder. I will need him to stand in for my place since I will be gone on missions.” She trailed off. 

“Hinata-chan. We are going to win. I’m not going to allow that teme to do that to you.” 

“Wishful thinking is not a strategy. Please continue.” 

“If Akatsuki is still around, as seems likely, I will be needed to help eliminate them. I wish to do this to help Naruto-kun. I need to do this to get strong enough to truly lead my family. Father is not strong enough. He must do largely what the elders wish. He tries to protect me in his own way.” 

“What else?” 

“I need to do this if I am to stand with Naruto-kun and not just for Akatsuki. If he can achieve his dream of becoming Hokage, he will need someone strong beside him. I hope to be that person.” She blushed furiously as she said this. 

“Correct again. Why exactly are you here? I find no fault in your ability to reason out a strategy, though I suppose we can improve on that. You might also need to work on implementation.” 

“Hinata-chan!” 

“You, are the one who needs the strategy lessons, but before that simple observation lessons. Remain. Talk with Hinata. This place is as private as any you will find. Work out these issues. Return tomorrow at the same time.” 

As he was leaving he said, “The boy said this would be troublesome.” 

-«heroine»-

“Hinata-chan,” Naruto said quietly. 

Hinata’s blush was full force. 

“Did you mean all that? Not just your own dreams, but to help me with mine?” 

Hinata could only nod and then even that was too much for her. She passed out. 

Ten minutes later, Shikaku’s wife Yoshino came through the door. “Why is your friend like that?” 

A confused Naruto described what happened. 

“It seems my husband can still be an idiot. So tell me, do you accept her intentions? I thought my son said you were after that loud pink haired one.” 

“Sakura-chan?” he asked in question. 

“If that is her name.” 

“I don’t know. I used to think. Sakura-chan was so pretty, but then Hinata-chan..” 

“Think of yourself as a Hokage. Describe your day.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Hinata had woken up, but was pretending otherwise. 

“Well, I’d get up in the morning. Perhaps we would go through the village and see if there were any problems. We’d talk with the other ninja and see what needed worked on there and we would work on it.” 

“Now think. You have two young women. One you have expressed an interest in, and one who expressed an interest in you. Of these two women, which do you think would best care for the people of Konoha?” 

“Well Hinata has been caring for her little sister all this time, even earning her father’s scorn by letting her win so she would not be sealed, and um, she is working to get strong to be able to lead her clan, and get rid of that caged bird seal thing, and well to help me.” 

“I recall in the chunin exam you said you would help with that.” 

“Yah. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet. Hinata-chan and I are learning sealing, so maybe we can figure it out.” 

“And the pink haired one?” 

“We’ll um, Sakura-chan um, we’ll she spent most of her time trying to get Sasuke to go out with her, but she is working hard to learn from the Hokage now, but then, I think she is getting stronger to go after Sasuke again and um..” 

“Sasuke abandoned the village for power. Worse, he did it by going to the person who killed our previous leader. Do you think a relationship with someone who is totally focused towards helping to save a traitor is something a Hokage would do?” 

“Jiji didn’t abandon people!” 

“Okay, Sasuke is with Orochimaru. He left of his own free will. It is reasonable to assume that getting him back will require at least two full Konoha teams, so eight ninja minimum. Doing so will be incredibly risky, since Orochimaru has his own ninja. It is quite likely that half of the ninja who undertake that task will die, or worse be captured and tortured by Orochimaru, thus putting many more at risk, and possibly even the village itself. Now, pretend you are the Hokage. Do you send those eight out to save Sasuke, knowing that half or more will probably die, knowing that even if you retrieve him, he is liable to leave again, possibly killing people in the process?” 

“What? No. It won’t be that way!” 

“Won’t it? I think if you think about it you will realize that the scenario I just described is a likely outcome. If you can think of another we can discuss it. That brings us back to Sakura and Hinata. Sakura expresses no interest in you, and works only towards saving Sasuke. Likely she has believed she will save him for some time. It is an unhealthy fixation that no doubt the Hokage is trying to wean her from. Hinata expressed an interest in you. Hinata has helped you. Hinata plans to live her life by your side if you will but accept her. She is risking her life to get strong, not just to lead her clan, but to stand by your side as an equal. Which will you choose? Don’t answer that. Just go. Think about it. I’ll take care of Hinata.” 

“Are you sure? I could carry her home.” 

“Yes I’m sure.” 

“Alright.” Naruto slipped out the door quietly. 

“I know your awake.” 

“Eep.” 

“I really hate spelling everything out for a clueless man. Are you sure he is worth it dear?” 

“He is. He is..” 

“Well then you had better get used to explaining things to him. I have hope my husband can fix some of that, but the boy is dense.” 

“He is my Naruto-kun.” 

“Not yet he isn’t.” 

Hinata nodded sadly even as she got up to leave. 

Thirty seconds later Shikaku came through the door. He asked, “Was that wise? Handing the truth on a silver platter is hardly likely to cause him to think.” 

“Wise? Perhaps not, but I think the jump start was needed so he can focus on other issues.” 

“Perhaps you are right.” Shikaku yawned. “I think I will go out to tend the deer.” 

“Oh no you don’t husband. Your not going to sneak off to sleep. We are going to plan what you are going to go over tomorrow. Shikamaru’s life could depend on getting the Yondaime’s kid to start looking underneath the underneath, and so far he isn’t even reliably seeing the first level.” 

“Troublesome.” 

“Yes it is. Now let’s go grab some coffee and start planning this out.” 

-«heroine»-

Naruto wondered aimlessly as he tried to straighten out his thoughts. Hinata was cool, but he had never had anyone interested in him, so he found it difficult to even really understand the concept. He wanted to help her. They worked well together, but did he really want all the rest? He didn’t know. He never really imagined anything with Sakura beyond finally getting her to go on a date with him to Ichiraku’s. _That’s it. He could ask Hinata-chan to Ichiraku’s. After all, perhaps this stuff was like everything else he was learning. What if you had to take it in steps? Besides, maybe she could help him figure it out._ It didn’t take long to find her. They had a nice long lunch together, but somehow never quite got around to talking about those big questions before they had to go off to train. 

-«heroine»-

Hinata could not help but smile after their lunch together. She continued to smile as she made her way back to Shizune’s house, yet as she got closer her smile slipped. The last piece seemed to be falling into place, but that was not the last piece. Could she truly become strong enough to stand by his side? Her doubts seemed to return anew as she slipped through the screen door. 

Her vision was excellent, even without her Byakugan activated, and it was through that that she saw the light seeping through the guest room door. _Sakura is back already? No, it doesn’t matter._ She stopped quietly and started the other way, carefully masking the emotions she had let slip before and then moved directly into training ground twenty two before tree hopping to the top of the largest tree she could find. She then activated her eyes to confirm she was not observed before willing the orange costume on herself and then shooting up into the sky. 

The costume was supposed to make it harder to recognize her. That was good, but the important part was the quiet and the joy of the skies. Konoha was but a dot. She would have to slip back down and become Hinata again all too soon, but for now she could be free. 

-«heroine»-

The shinobi council assembled in the underground storage area that had been set aside for the other end of the transport seal. The transport seal was itself a master of the sealing arts, though still not in league with the Hiraishin. That one was tiny, selectable, quick, and portable. This was point to point, took a bit of time to warm up, and took a six foot sized section of the floor. 

Naruto, Anko, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and the Hokage were preparing to activate the seal, while the rest of them, including Hinata, looked on. 

Jiraiya said, “Naruto, make three clones. Divide the chakra equally.” He did so. “Okay, the Hokage and I will take north and south. Kakashi and Anko will take east and west. The Narutos will take up the diagonals. I want to make sure the activation is a bit more symmetric than the original. If we do it right, the delay time for a transport will be reduced and it will require less chakra to keep viable.” 

They took their places. Jiraiya got out four simple signs labeled one two three and four and hung them on the Narutos. “On three like we practiced. Continue a steady stream. Hinata will call out directions by name for us, or by number for the Narutos. If she directs you to increase or decrease the chakra flow you will do so. Understood?” 

“Yes. Now let’s get on with it,” the Hokage said. 

“Good. We are ready Hinata.” 

“Byakugan. Begin feeding chakra.” 

They knelt and placed their palms on the seal. “Anko more. Kakashi more. Jiraiya less. All Narutos less. Good, better. One a bit more. Good. Keep it steady. I estimate you are about ten minutes until threshold. Anko back off a fraction.” 

A minute passed, then five minutes. Kakashi said quietly. “I am unsure if I have enough to last the full ten minutes. This is using quite a lot. Gai, could you come over here and prepare to switch. I’ll try to last, but I may not be able to.” 

Anko said, “Same here. Kurenai, could you do the same?” 

Hinata said, “No, I think the disruption would be too great. Can you make it another two minutes?” 

Anko said, “Yes, though not much more.” 

Kakashi said, “Yes.” 

“Okay, in two minutes I want the following. Over a period of ten seconds Kakashi and Anko will taper their chakra flow to zero. Over that same period the Naruto’s will move closer to them, without removing their hands from the circle or disrupting the flow. They will continue until they are half way there. They will then slowly increase their chakra output until it is fifty percent bigger than it is now. I will monitor and call out adjustments. Does everyone understand?” 

A series of “Hais,” indicated their agreement. 

“Begin the transition. 3 and 4 ramp up slightly faster. 1 and 2 stay there. 3 and 4 your there. Kakashi Anko your done. Step back. I estimate about two minutes to threshold. I further estimate that those remaining could go on for another minute after that to improve the seals stability before the risk of chakra exhaustion or clone instability becomes untenable. How shall we proceed?” 

Jiraiya said, “Let’s take it to the limit.” 

Two minutes later their was a large flash as the seal was pushed over its threshold and the link was established. The completed seal rotated slowly on the smooth bedrock as they continued to supply it power. One minute after that the chakra flow was released. 

Jiraiya sat back and yawned. The three Naruto clones vanished in a puff of smoke. ANBU handed each an energy drink. After drinking a bit Tsunade said, “Hinata. Jump across. You know the way. Bring back one chest. ANBU can get the others later.” 

Less than a minute later Hinata returned carrying a large chest that she set down in front of Jiraiya. He opened it and tossed a scroll to Danzo. 

Danzo unrolled it by first applying a bit of chakra and looked at it carefully. “They are genuine.” 

Tsunade asked, “Were their any problems Hinata?” 

“No, the seal worked perfectly. Only a little chakra was required, and it seems to be stable. It should not require a lot of extra chakra to retain that stability.” 

“Excellent. Okay, ANBU proceed with the plan.” 

-«heroine»-

Danzo sat with Homaru and Koharu in a private meeting room. He said, “It seems that the young Hyuga is doing well. I particularly liked how she was able to help stabilize the group seal.” 

Homaru said, “It was an obvious application of the Byakugan.” 

Koharu said, “And yet, we have not used it for this before. Why is that?” 

Danzo said, “Agreed. We must always be cautious of tradition. The container also did a credible job, particularly since he effectively replaced four Kage level ninja, all without using the demon’s power. It still angers me when I think of how the academy nearly ruined him. Waste of that scale should not be permitted!” 

Koharu said, “That was not just a pile of chakra. He also kept the flow quite even, and adapted smoothly under Hinata’s direction.” 

Danzo said, “Yes, it seems his chakra control has become almost credible. The fact that his training was fixed after the fact is good. The fact that it was crap in the first place is what we must address. The rest of the current crop aren’t that much better.” 

Homaru said, “What are we going to do about it?” 

Danzo said, “For now, I want you and Koharu to look into the academy training. Create a plan to improve it. I will look it over and revise it. We will present it to Tsunade together. She is already working on this, so we can probably add to it.” 

Koharu asked, “What is she doing?” 

“She has already instructed the headmaster that water walking was a new requirement and that they were to make sure it happened. I believe the plan is to introduce it early in their last year and then have people practice while doing normal lessons. She also plans to force the young Nara to teach tactics and strategy.” 

Homaru said, “Interesting.” Koharu nodded. 

Danzo said, “Don’t include anything that will make her reject it off hand. There is no need to fight a battle here, at least not yet, particularly when things are moving in an appropriate direction. This one can be won simply by pointing out the problems, and perhaps providing the resources to solve it. We should also make sure to include at least some medical training in the plan, though perhaps less than she wants. I am not convinced that each team needs a medical ninja. I am convinced that someone should have at least enough training to deal with typical field related injuries. Extend the hours too. A mere eight hours is not enough training to get the required skills in.” 

Homaru said, “Perhaps they could alternate lecture and physical activity. A small split mid day for learning and practicing meditation could also have value. Maybe ten hours total with lunch and all?” 

Koharu said, “Agreed. I’ll get started on it.” 

Homaru said, “I was thinking we could also move these D-rank missions into the academy time. If they learned proper teamwork there, even if it took more time, at least it would waste less of the Jounins time. It might also reduce our mortality rate.” 

“Put it in the plan. Also make sure you put in there some of the promising genin returning for demonstrations.” Danzo said as he left. 

-«heroine»-

Naruto met Hinata later that day in what they had come to call their training ground. It was not a formal training ground. It was where they had been pulled out of the lake that day not so long ago. 

They were now sparring on the lake with taijutsu only. Their chakra use was limited to staying on the water and simply accelerating their motions. 

Naruto ducked another frighteningly fast swing from Hinata. While they were not using chakra, he knew that if she touched him, he would have to act disabled. He said, “I was thinking about the seal.” 

“Yes Naruto-kun?” She spun on one foot and attempted to sweep his feet out from under him. He lost his footing and sank almost a foot before he quickly stepped back and recovered. 

“Yah, I was thinking we could make something portable, maybe to use in combat.” He lashed out with a punch aiming for her side and then followed up with a kick to her leg. The first grazed her, while the second missed cleanly. 

“Like what?” she asked. 

“Dunno, instead of an explosive tag, we could use a disc or something. It needs to be a little more rigid, maybe with an adhesive. If we just inscribed the fuinjutsu to toss someone it the air and they stepped on it..” 

“Neji-nisan would see it, even if we buried it. He would warn the others.” 

“Yah, you’re right. That wouldn’t work. Hey, I know...” 

Hinata continued to listen and even made several suggestions as they continued to spar. 

After several minutes Hinata noticed that he was too close and that she was already in mid jump so could not change her directory, at least with her normal skills. With a grin she simply flew backwards. 

“Not fair Hinata-chan. I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.” 

Naruto created a hundred clones. One of them threw him into the air while the others seemed to raise their hands and point at him. He bobbed along for several seconds as he got closer to Hinata before she moved farther into the air. 

He continued to bob around as his clones treated the original like a volleyball they were controlling on cushions of wind. He got closer several times only for her to slip away with a smile. Finally she changed to the orange costume and flew straight up into the air. As she was ascending she said, “You will have to try a bit harder than that to catch me Naruto-kun.” 

“Alright,” the original said, even as he used his own control over wind to push himself up in the air. It didn’t last long, but he did manage a hundred feet before losing control. She zoomed down and caught him about twenty feet from the ground. 

She continued to hold him in her arms as she shot back into the sky. “Nice work Naruto-kun. I have no doubt that you will one day be able to do what was given to me with your own skills.” 

“But by then you will be even more awesome Hinata-chan!” 

The orange pair flew off into the sunset. 

-«heroine»-

Tenten was on her tenth Naruto clone. At first she seemed to pick up fuinjutsu like a sponge, but after she learned a bit she kept wanting Naruto’s clones to test fuinjustu ideas that even he thought were unwise. That was how the other nine clones met their ends. The really scary bit is she seemed to be slightly more excited about the failures as if she was making progress. 

“Say, would you mind please testing this new version?” 

The clone backed away. 

“I’ll buy you ramen.” 

The clone backed further away. Sure it worked the other nine times, but so far none of his clones had gotten to eat any of the ramen. 

“Please?” she said in her sweetest voice. 

Naruto clone number ten was not buying it. He was vaguely remembering someone saying something like, “Fool me nine times shame on you, or something like that.” 

“Fine. I’ll explain what I’m trying to do. Maybe you can help me figure it out.” 

The Naruto clone looked dubious, but got a bit closer. 

“I was thinking about how seals are made. You need a medium like special ink or blood or such, but are those really the only ones?” 

Naruto said, “Well, almost any bodily fluid can usually be used as some form of medium. Jiraiya said that Tsunade once got out of bindings using her chakra and saliva for an impromptu explosive seal, but she is one of the few with that much control.” 

“Yes. Now what about the other direction. Instead of good mediums, is there anything we can do with things that are normally really bad mediums?” 

“Huh? Like what?” 

“Metal.” 

Naruto’s clone said, “Um, I don’t think that is going to work. Chakra would just bleed off.” 

“What if you, in the process of forging a blade used traces of chakra metal to lay down seal work inside the blade?” 

“I still don’t think it would work.” 

“And what if the seal flowed energy both out of and into itself? Then it would bleed chakra into itself. It wouldn’t have to be a circle. Anything three dimensional with a closed form might work.” 

Naruto’s clone said, “That was kind of what you were doing in the test seals, but that won’t work with a regular seal. Wait, what your doing is more or less what happens with an explosive seal. You just aren’t waiting for the triggering event.” 

Tenten blushed. “I hadn’t thought of that. So you think it won’t work?” 

“I dunno. The change of mediums would change things. What did you want the blade to do?” 

“The second Hokage had a blade called Raijin. I was hoping for something like that.” 

“Let’s go talk to Ero-Sennin. He might have some ideas. If we try this though, it has to be with a clone.” They started walking. 

“But I have to forge it and add the metal.” 

The clone shrugged. “Do you really want to be next to a blob of red hot metal that explodes?” 

Tenten’s sighed. She said, “Okay, I can try to teach you enough to muddle through it. I’ll probably have to use dad’s old stuff and set it up at a training area.” 

It turned out that Jiraiya thought the idea was a cross between interesting and insane. He did help them work out some details, but insisted that anyone actually living stayed at least a hundred foot away once any chakra got involved. He also insisted that in the unlikely event it didn’t explode, that Naruto should leave clones to keep people away then come get him. 

If anything Jiraiya’s caution seemed to make her even more interested in the project. Not using chakra during the initial forging made things easier. She could forge the blade completely without chakra. Sure it was harder and quality would suffer, particularly to get the seal traces right, but it was less work than teaching Naruto would be, particularly since forging sent up more than enough sparks to toast a clone. That just left activating it, when they reached that point. 

Naruto’s clone was seriously wondering why he was going along with this. “Ramen,” he said. “Ramen first.” 

Tenten looked at him curiously. She said, “I thought I heard something about you being on a new diet.” 

“My main self is on a diet. I’m a clone. I’m fighting for all the clones who must give their lives after me. I must protect their dreams!” 

“Sure. Ramen it is,” said Tenten quickly. 

-«heroine»-

The mini chunin exam was attended by the same people who watched the seals completion. Officially, they were just finishing what was disrupted by Orochimaru even if technically more people than made it to the finals had a chance now. 

Tsunade said, “Alright guys. I want a clean fight. As this is Konoha only, lethal or moves that are likely to cause a permanent disability are not allowed. If I say stop, then everyone stops what they are doing, while making sure no one is injured by actions in progress. If anyone leaves the combat area they are out. Understood?” She was a bit surprised by the sudden smile from Naruto and Hinata. 

“Hai!” was echoed by all. 

“Good. Now I want a clean fight. Begin.” 

Naruto and Hinata immediately stepped back, with Naruto creating close to a thousand clones and Hinata changing to look exactly like him. 

All thousand and one narutos pulled out slingshots from their weapons pouch and launched small black rubber balls at their targets. Every defender got hit by hundreds of small black rubber balls. All but two of them vanished in a puff of smoke after leaving a small welt. 

One of the two that remained hit Choji and seemed to explode soundlessly as Choji was tossed out of the combat area by a warping of space. 

Neji’s Jyuken strike hit another, but it still activated, throwing him back. He countered by taking off his weapons pouch and throwing it in the opposite direction, just managing to land inside the sparring area. 

He said,“I am not that easy, Hinata-hime.” 

The Naruto he was looking at smiled a small smile, even as it launched another projectile that hit Lee, warping space and tossing him out of the ring. He sighed, but sat down. He was out. 

Shikamaru yelled, “Neji, warn us about the real ones.” While he was yelling a ball impacted Shikamaru’s leg tossing him in the air and out of the ring. 

Shikamaru said, “This sucks. Well at least it is a nice day and it is not as if I need the promotion.” He walked a bit further away and gazed up at the clouds. 

Neji shouted, “Sakura, incoming one oclock.” 

Sakura looked. There were too many. She flatted herself to the ground, relieved that whatever it was sailed past, only to kick up a small explosion of dust as it hit the ground. 

Tenten knocked another out of the sky with her staff, only for her staff to be thrown out of her hands. She quickly unsealed another staff, save this one had an odd round metal sphere at the end maybe three inches in diameter. It seemed to be forged from all one piece of dull gray metal. 

From the crowd Jiraiya said, “How the heck did she get that? I thought I told Gai to put that up. Sure it seems to work, but for how long?” 

Tsunade was stopped from responding by a dull blue glow starting to form on the tip of the staff. 

Just then half the Naruto’s dropped the slingshot and charged the remaining defenders. Neji said, “2 o’clock.” Tenten adjusted her aim even as the Naruto’s changed direction and focused on Tenten. They were too slow. A solid beam of chakra lanced out at Hinata. 

There were Narutos to either side of her and not much room behind her either. There was no time. She jumped straight up only to see Tenten adjust her aim and the beam move up. She continued up in the air, as the beam faded out. Tenten collapsed to the ground. The effort exhausting her. A shadow quickly shot forth from Shikamaru and pulled Tenten out of the area. 

Hiashi asked, “What was that?” even as the Naruto shaped Hinata tried to make it looked like she was finishing a long jump. 

Tsunade said dryly, “Classified. No one leave this area until I authorize it.” 

Naruto’s clones shot towards Ino and Shino and pulled them out of the ring before vanishing in a puff of smoke. 

Neji called out, “Kiba to your right.” He was too late. Multiple balls were heading his way and he dodged the wrong one. Several others hit and he was tossed out of the area. 

“Sakura, jump!” 

Sakura did a chakra powered jump and was up in the air. A ball from what appeared to be another Naruto clone, albeit one with a scary smile impacted her in the side, flinging her out of the combat area. The figure shimmered and changed back revealing Hinata Hyuga. She charged Neji and attacked, using ever bit of skill Anko and Tsunade had tried to instill in her. She dodged a multi palm attack from him and punched the ground with her right fist, shattering it and opening a chasm. Neji jumped away in time, just managing land outside the damaged area. 

“I see you have improved Hinata-san.” 

She smiled, but said nothing. “You really should learn to pay attention Neji-nisan.” 

As she said this real Naruto nailed him from almost directly behind him. Neji didn’t seem to notice until he was flung out of the ring with no way to change his course. Hiashi frowned at that. 

“Well, that was anticlimatic,” Shikaku said. 

Danzo said, “It was a space time jutsu sealed into those balls. How did they manage that and can we copy it? And what about Hinata and that whatever it was?” 

Tsunade said, “Their techniques are their own. Hinata’s ability is classified as is that staff thing Tenten had. I will not cover it. Anyone who compromises Konoha security will face Ibiki.” 

“We shall see,” said Danzo softly. 

Tsunade said, “Now, I believe voting is in order.” 

Danzo said, “They passed. They out planned their opponents. It doesn’t matter how. A win is a win, well as long as no one specifically helped them with those seals.” 

Jiraiya said, “I taught them sealing. I most certainly did not teach them that. I actually have no idea how they did that.” 

Danzo looked at him for several seconds. “I think I believe you. Fine, promote them and let’s get this over with. I still want to find out about this flying thing and that chakra blast.” 

Jiraiya said, “The flying thing is classified. The chakra blast thing is probably a bomb waiting to happen. Ignore it.” 

“I know a talented seal master. I could have it examined.” 

Jiraiya considered for several seconds. Finally he said, “I have already examined it carefully. I understand it as well as anyone is apt to. It will remain classed as dangerously experimental for now and will be stored safely until it is better understood. For that matter how did she get it?” 

Gai stood up. “I’m afraid I caved and gave her it.” 

Shizune was over with Tenten then and was just finishing checking her over. She said, “I wish you had not. She very nearly died. I stabilized her chakra system, but only just. Whatever that was drained her nearly to the point of death.” 

“Crap,” Jiraiya said even as he created a shadow clone and handed the clone a sealing scroll. The clone quickly picked up and sealed the staff away, before cautiously handing the scroll to his original and dissipating. He carefully rolled it up and put it in a vest holder. 

Neji walked near to the Hokage and said, “Hokage-sama, is it not important to establish a chunins actual skill level without tricks? If so I volunteer myself for a rematch.” 

Lee said, “I too would like to face Naruto-kun.” 

-«heroine»-

Tsunade thought about this for several seconds before saying, “I’ll allow it, but as far as I’m concerned they have already passed. This will be a test if anyone else can. Are there any other takers?” She looked around. “Very well, first up is Lee versus Naruto. I’m removing the out of bounds limit. We don’t want things ending quite so easily.” 

Naruto created a fresh batch of around five hundred clones. Lee began to concentrate. Three of the clones immediately charged Lee’s form and shouted, “Fuuton Daitoppa.” The three clones vanished in puffs of smoke. Lee was literally blown away as the blast hit him, ending up flipping over and over several times before coming to a rest. A dozen Narutos dashed out towards him as Lee resumed his concentration. Another blast of wind tossed him around, but not enough to stop him from shouting “Kaimon Opened!” 

“Ah hell,” said several of the Narutos as the now much faster Lee started annihilating his clones. One of the Narutos started talking quietly with several of the others as Lee got closer. Finally they seemed to come to an agreement as another fifty clones were created and one of them was dispersed. Over two hundred clones quickly circled Lee and just started manipulating wind, not to cut, but to lift. Lee was lifted into the air and simply kept there, preventing him from having any leverage whatsoever. 

Two hundred Naruto clones working together easily had the control to keep him in the air. Lee started for his pouch, only to have it cut from his waist by a carefully shaped blast of wind. Lee released the second, third, and then the fourth gate. 

Tsunade shouted, “Enough.” 

Naruto gently let the wind fall as Lee was placed on the ground. Lee released the gates he had opened. 

Tsunade said, “Sorry Lee, but brute force is not the path to a chunin vest. Better luck next time. Naruto’s wind control has come far in such a short time. He figured out how to immobilize you without actually causing you injury. That leads support to his promotion. Now, Neji and Hinata your turn.” 

Neji and Hinata circled each other. Each had their Byakugan flaring. Hinata asked quietly, “How goes your training with my father?” 

“It goes well Hinata-sama.” 

“I am glad to hear that.” 

“Why do you not fly? I could not touch you then.” 

She declined to respond. They continued to spar until suddenly she failed to move back quickly enough only to get several tenketsus on her left arm closed by Neji. She moved away and seemed to be focused on Neji only to have her right hand glow softly green as it touched the same spots Neji touched. 

“Impressive Hinata-sama. It is unheard of to open a blocked tenketsu while in combat, at least without causing damage.” 

“Really? I found it quite easy. It is just a careful application of medical chakra.” 

“You will not bait me Hinata-sama. I have learned my lesson there.” 

“Perhaps we both have.” 

Hinata seemed to almost skip half the steps as she was suddenly in front of Neji. 

Her right fingers flared forming a small chakra scalpel that reached out to cut the tendons in his legs. 

Neji yelled, “Kaiten!” as he desperately tried to protect himself. Even so he was a little late. The Kaiten fell apart as he favored his right leg. 

Neji said, “No Jyuken Hinata-sama?” 

Hinata asked in curiosity, “Why would I use something you would be ready for? That would be silly Neji-kun.” 

Neji did a seal less Kawarimi, appearing behind Hinata. His hands flared with chakra as he reached for the small of her back. Hinata just seemed to move forward, but it was not quite enough. She collapsed onto the ground. 

Tsunade said, “Enough. I recommend the promotion of both Neji and Hinata. Does anyone disagree?” 

Neji said quietly, “Had she used the flying trick, she probably would have won. She seemed to use it a bit at the end, but it was too late.” No one else commented. 

Tsunade said, “This was only a rank exam among friends and as I said, that ability is classified. If she had to rely on it to do well, she would not have earned her promotion.” 

No one else commented. “Okay, Neji, Naruto, and Hinata are now officially chunin with all the responsibilities and privileges thereof.” She then moved forward to heal Hinata and Neji. 

-«heroine»-

Later that day Neji again had dinner with Hiashi. This time Hanabi was present. He said, “You did an adequate job today. You will continue with that level of performance.” 

Hanabi asked, “What happened to Hinata? Did she win?” 

Hiashi said, “She performed well. She was promoted to Chunin.” 

“Oh. Well that is good.” Hanabi seemed less than certain that it was, indeed, good. Hiashi said, “Hanabi, could I ask you to take your food to your room. I’d like to speak with Neji.” 

Hanabi looked on concerned before saying, “Sure Otou-sama.” She then set her silverware on her plate, picked it up, and walked out of the dining room. 

A few minutes later Hiashi said, “So, what do you know about this new ability of Hinata’s?” 

Neji said, “Nothing, or at least nothing that you don’t already know. It was a complete surprise to me.” 

“Another space time jutsu perhaps?” asked Hiashi. 

“I honestly have no idea. I don’t think it was chakra. I didn’t see any distortion around her when she was in the air. There may have been some use, but it wasn’t obvious and it wasn’t external. Her chakra seemed to be normal, save for some growth in her coils. The only thing obvious was when she shot chakra down into her legs to prepare for the landing. The only thing that really stood out is her flying thing did not stand out. It was instinctive. Whatever it was, she has practiced. She also seems to have practiced not using it. She simply had no other good option, giving that Tenten could easily change the angle of her attack.” 

“That is basically what I noted. Continue to remain observant. If you learn more report it to me. I wish to know if this skill can be learned. She has already refused to be tested for somehow having an additional kekkei genki.” 

-«heroine»-

Hinata and Naruto walked into the Hokage’s office. Jiraiya and Anko were also there. Tsunade was already drinking saki. 

“Okay guys, I’ve done what I could to try to prevent Hinata’s ability and knowledge of Tenten’s ridiculous weapon from spreading, but I’d not bet on that lasting.” 

Jiraiya said, “I figure we might get a year or two, if we are lucky.” 

Hinata said, “I did not see another option. I think it would have killed me if it hit. I could feel the chakra off it without even having my eyes active. Even if I destroyed Naruto’s clones, it still would have likely hit me, with her being able to move it. Even with the benefit of hindsight, I don’t see another solution. A kawarimi would have taken more time.” 

Tsunade said, “Shizune spoke with her. She had not intended to use a beam that strong, not that it means anything. Had it got a direct hit, you would have been very dead. I don’t have to like it, but revealing that ability was necessary. You made the right call. Your only mistake was bad acting, and I’m not sure even good acting would have worked there.” 

“I just wish I didn’t have Naruto teach Tenten. I should have taken Gai’s advice. Sure that staff thing looks useful, but it is also dangerous. I shudder to think what would happen if a Kage used it, assuming it didn’t explode.” 

Jiraiya asked, “So guys, just how did you create those little fuinjutsu marvels?” 

Hinata said, “It was Naruto-kun’s idea, but he couldn’t quite make it work. I just adjusted the inside a bit.” 

Naruto said, “Yah, what Hinata did is so cool. I figured out how to duplicate the effect the seal we worked on had of throwing people in the air, but I couldn’t make it work. I had to make it pretty stable to be able to finish drawing, but if we wanted it to work on contact it had to be pretty unstable, so Hinata-chan tweaked each one a bit.” 

Jiraiya said, “You experimented on one of Naruto’s already experimental seals so it was even more unstable, while at the same time Naruto is helping Tenten design S-ranked weapons. Worse, he talked me into helping. Are you all trying to give me gray hair? What happened to the ones left?” 

Naruto said, “Oh, well we used most of them, and um, Hinata disarmed the last nine and I destroyed them.” 

Tsunade held her head in her hands. “So, not only did you do something incredibly risky to win, you also increased the risk by disarming an already destabilized seal.” 

“Um, maybe?” Naruto said in his best innocent tone. 

Jiraiya said, “Next time use an explosive seal with a time delay. Set it and let it blow. Don’t risk yourself. Hell, just shooting them at a clone would make more sense.” 

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I did test them. Many loyal clones died in the pursuit of perfection. Come to think of it, a lot of clones have died that way lately.” He scratched the back of his head absently. “At any rate, my loyal minions made sure they only had enough chakra to be mostly safe.” 

Tsunade said, “Fine brat, but I still want Jiraiya to look over your plans before you make any more of these or anything else that is not by the book and no more staffs of doom until we understand that one. Got it?” 

Naruto nodded seriously. Hinata hid a small smile behind covering it with a yawn. 

“Okay, now get. Your leaving at dawn tomorrow. Go pack.” 

After they left Tsunade pulled out a replacement bottle of saki and continued drinking, but this time she was drinking directly from it. She stopped when Jiraiya held out his own hand and downed some himself. 

Tsunade said, “You didn’t buy it either did you?” 

“Nope. He is an Uzumaki with the sealing bug. I remember well Kushina. Worse, he has what appears to be two effective accomplices, but at least we can separate one of them tomorrow.” He downed some more before Tsunade stole it back. 

“Does Hinata have everything she needs to continue her medical studies?” 

“Shizune taught Anko what she could while she was here. She has all the material she needs to continue for now. Just keep them alive until they gets back and I’ll fix any gaps.” 

“I can also arrange for us to visit a few other medical experts. Your not the only one you know.” 

Tsunade glared at him, but said nothing for several seconds. Finally she said, “I’ll meet you at the gate when you leave.” 

Jiraiya nodded. “I’ll see you then Hime. Until tomorrow.” 

“Just promise to keep them alive for me, okay? You, Naruto, and Shizune are all I really have left.” 

“I will. I promise. You might want to assign Tenten a hidden watcher for now. I don’t think she will disobey your order to build nothing more, but just her notes are potentially dangerous.” 

“I’ll order Gai to keep her notes on anything remotely dangerous. He can also supervise her when she studies to make sure she is not tempted. It may not be fair, since he did warn me, but oh well.” She drank another gulp of Saki. “What am I going to do with all that thing? She won’t be put off forever, and it is useful. It did still seem stable right?” 

“From what I can tell, yes. I created a shadow clone with about a fourth of my chakra and shot it down into the lake at a shallow angle. The clone found it almost impossible to stop its chakra flow once started, and I remember it trying really hard. It did manage it right at the end, but it was a close thing, and it dispelled anyway. Even with the water absorbing most of the chakra, there is still a new underwater cave twenty feet deep.” 

“Great. Perhaps I’ll have Gai keep it sealed on him in case of emergencies. He is strong enough to make a decent shadow clone and use it. That appears to be the only marginally safe way to use it.” 

“That is probably for the best hime. Even if I encountered Akatsuki, I’m unwilling to burn so much chakra in the hopes I can hit one of them. Nor do I much want to see what would happen if Naruto started pushing biju chakra through it. Gai is likely to find less critical situations where a clone can keep testing it. Worst case, if it does blow up a clone, well maybe Tenten can figure out why.” 

-«heroine»-

Team Jiraiya was camping out in Uzushiogakure, having taken the portal to here as their first stop. 

Jiraiya said, “Well, first up, it is lesson time. I’m going to teach my transparency jutsu. It is valuable to everyone, but particularly so to Hinata. With her eyes, and her ability to not just fly, but do so silently, it is invaluable. Naruto, I want you to continue trying to learn how to fly. Create a bunch of clones and have them go practice, but the original stays. Anko do you have anything?” 

She asked, “How fast can you do this jutsu?” 

Jiraiya shrugged. “I can manage it in about ten seconds. My control is good, but it also masks my chakra and that is not easy. Someone like you or Hinata ought to be able to do it faster with practice.” 

“How much faster?” asked Hinata curiously. 

“Let’s see shall we? Watch closely.” 

Hinata activated her eyes and watched as Jiraiya ran through seals before seeming to vanish. Hinata said, “I can see you well enough.” 

Naruto said, “Well I can’t.” Anko added, “Me either.” 

Jiraiya’s voice said, “That is not surprising, though I wonder if it is your new abilities or just the Byakugan in general. I had thought it worked against it..” 

Anko snorted. “You just got lucky that none of them that visited the hot springs bothered to use their eyes, but then a family that can see through walls must learn to be somewhat carefree.” 

Hinata blushed furiously. Naruto looked at her oddly, but then smiled a small smile. 

Anko noticed. She said, “Gonna learn peeking skills Naruto?” 

“What! No, I’d never do that to Hinata!” 

Hinata let out a small sigh. 

“Not that I don’t think Hinata isn’t pretty or awesome or anything...” They were all looking at him. “I’m going to shutup now.” 

“Now your learning kid,” said a now visible Jiraiya. He then added, “Come on gakis. It is time to get to work. I’ll walk you through the steps slowly. Once we master this, then we can practice our water walking a bit more.” 

“But I already know water walking,” muttered Naruto. 

“Enough to cross back over to the mainland without a boat?” 

“Right. Water walking.” 

“That’s the spirit. Once we get there we can check on your bridge and then start gathering on our real mission.” 

“Yes,” Hinata said. “Onward to the land of lightning to warn their Jinchuriki.” A part of her mentally shuddered as she contemplated walking into the land eyes wide open that had nearly kidnapped her so long ago. Naruto must have saw something in her expression. He took her hand in his and said, “Together.” 

Hinata smiled and nodded. “Together.” 

-«heroine»-

Author’s Note: This was a story idea I got after watching some old episodes of Greatest American Hero, and is considered complete for now, though the setup is there to do more with it. If you liked it, could you consider a kudo?


End file.
